Swiss Elections & Politics (Next election 2019)

[SNJ1985]

The SVP is divided about the ECOPOP-referendum, which aims to reduce immigration even further than the SVP-Ref. last February: Its delegates opposed it 298:80, but 63% of its members support it, 13 SVP-cantons say NO, but 5 YES.

What's the division based on?

[SNJ1985]

I voted yes in the February immigration referendum but will vote against Ecopop; putting a 0,2% cap in our constitution seems way too rigid to me. Also, I'm not too keen on interfering in matters of family planning in other parts of the world.

I support the immigration cap, but not the birth control mandate. I would also vote No on this if I were Swiss.

[SNJ1985]

The ECOPOP referendum is polling poorly:

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/little-support-for-population-control--ecopop--initiative/41074800

[SNJ1985]

The upcoming ''Save Our Gold'' referendum doesn't look too likely to pass:

http://www.kitco.com/news/2014-11-03/Analysts-Support-For-Swiss-Gold-Referendum-Appears-To-Be-Declining.html

[SNJ1985]

Remark to "Thomas in NJ": And additionally, in referenda the support is generally declining during the campaigns.

Indeed, the "Save our Gold" initiative is a prime example of that. At first, initiatives with such appealing names sound attractive to many voters but as the issue gets debated more thoroughly, the no-campaigns usually manage to point out all the risks and downsides. Since the average Swiss is a careful person by nature, this typically results in a clear rejection of the vast majority of constitutional initiatives.

The "Save our Gold" initiative has three main goals: Firstly, the Swiss National Bank shall be required to increase its gold reserves to 20%. Also, the National Bank shall no longer be allowed to sell its gold. And finally, the gold reserves in their entirety should be stored in Switzerland. Currently, about 10% of the Swiss gold is stored in England and 20% in Canada. Interestingly, Ron Paul has expressed his tentative support for the Swiss proposal.
    

Do you personally support or oppose the proposal?

[SNJ1985]

I wonder what the gold referendum's best canton will be.

[SNJ1985]

Gold initiative:

580,815 YES (22,7%) - 1,973,558 NO (77,3%)
0 cantons YES - 23 cantons NO

Ticino ended up being the canton most in favor. I wonder why?

[SNJ1985]

TI is not surprising concerning ECOPOP, but GOLD is, because TI is not wealthy like Zurich and its "GoldCoast"-suburbs (stretching into InnerCH).

Could this have something to do with it?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20813983

[SNJ1985]

Has Switzerland ever had a referendum on marijuana legalization?

Yes. There was a referendum on legalizing marijuana in 2008. It was rejected with 63.25% against and 36.75% in favor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_referendums,_2008#Legalisation_of_the_personal_consumption_and_production_of_cannabis

[SNJ1985]

Back in August, a Eurobarometer survey stated that 53% of the youth in Europe think marijuana should be illegal.

http://eubulletin.com/3281-eurobarometer-most-europes-youth-support-banning-cannabis.html

[SNJ1985]

I sure wish that EDU percentage was higher!

The SVP is alright, though.

[SNJ1985]

An article about the small parties' efforts going into the next federal election...

http://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/kleinparteien-wollen-zurueck-ins-bundeshaus-1.18454723

[SNJ1985]

I wonder how this will affect the election.

[SNJ1985]

Thanks for the info.

[SNJ1985]

   Time for my obligatory immigration related election question.  Have the parties come up with very pronounced stances about taking any migrants?  Not being in the EU gives the Swiss some cover to avoid the issue perhaps? 

The SVP wants the military placed on the border:

http://neurope.eu/article/switzerlands-support-for-asylum-seekers-is-generous-but-hardly-uncontested/

[SNJ1985]

For the fans: here is the Swiss version of the "Voting Compass", called SmartVote: https://www.smartvote.ch/15_ch_nr/election/index. Available in English.

The results were not entirely clear. I don't understand why there were more lists from the same party. My result when I picked the highest-ranking list of any party in Bern:

SVP 83.1%
Schweizer Demokraten 62.7%
FDP 54.2%
BDP 44.5%
Green Liberals 29.4%
Pirates 24.9%
SP 21.2%
Green 9.3%

I would vote for SVP/UDC.

Here are my results. When I was asked to pick a constituency, I picked Zürich.

1. EDU Senioren: 74.7%
2. EDU: 73.6%
3. Junge EDU: 71.9%
4. SVP: 64.3%
5. Junge SVP: 61.6%
6. Schweizer Demokraten: 58.2%
7. Stopp Stau und Blitzterror - die Autofahrer Liste: 55.8%
8. ECOPOP: 53.8%
9. EVP: 52.5%
10. Junge EVP: 50.3%
11. Jungsfreisinnige Kanton Zürich: 48.6%
12. Tierpartei Schweiz: 46.6%
13. Junge CVP/CVP 60+: 46.4%
14. CVP: 45.1%
15. up! Unabhängigkeitspartei: 44.1%
16. BDP: 41.0%
17. FDP: 39.0%
18. GLP, Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer: 34.6%
19. DU Die Unpolitischen: 34.5%
20. Junge GLP: 32.7%
21. Piratenpartei: 31.6%
22. Grüne, MigrantInnen und Second@s: 26.1%
23. GLP: 26.0%
24. Alternative Linke, Partei der Arbeit + Kommunistische Jugend: 25.4%
25. Kunst + Politik: 24.0%
26. Alternative Linke, AL - Alternative Liste: 22.9%
27. Junge Grüne: 22.7%
28. Grüne: 22.4%
29. SP: 19.5%
30. JUSO: 16.8%

[SNJ1985]

Low turnout is expected for tomorrow's election:

http://www.thelocal.ch/20151016/low-voter-turnout-predicted-once-again