Swiss General Elections 2011 (Elections to the Federal Council)

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

Also, what are the chances that they'll offer 1 seat to each party?

[Leftbehind]

You'd have thought the Swiss left couldn't do any worse than previously, but it appears so.

Green Liberals? Deary me.

[Teddy (IDS Legislator)]

54 - SVP - G - Right-wing Conservative
45 - SPS - G - Socialism and Social Democracy
30 - FDP - G - Liberal
38 - CVP - G - Christian Democratic
15 - GPS - X - Left-wing Green
12 - GLP - X - Right-wing Green
9 - BDP - g - Moderate Conservative
2 - EVP - Social Conservative
2 - LdT - Regionalist and Right-Wing
1 - PdA - Communist
1 - CSP - Christian Left
1 - MCG - Regionalist and Right-Wing



G = Part of the "four parties" that "make up the 'government' of Switzerland"
g = Holds a seat in the 7 member "government" council but is not "entitled" to one based on the "Magic formula"
X = Traditionally an "Opposition" party

[Sibboleth]

Anways... sorry for asking the obvious... link to results?

?

[ZuWo]

Anways... sorry for asking the obvious... link to results?

?

You know, it's not forbidden to do a quick independent google search.

http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/wahlen2011/standard/Rechts-und-Links-verlieren--neue-Mitte-gewinnt/story/24161936?dossier_id=1085#NRKarte

http://www.politik-stat.ch/nrw2011CH_de.html

These links provide a nice overview of the results in each canton.

[Californian Tony]

Turnout was 48.6% ? That's quite awful...

[Tender Branson]

Turnout was 48.6% ? That's quite awful...

It's always been that way in Switzerland. It probably has to do with the fact that Swiss think they get to vote on all the main laws in referendums anyway, so why go voting to elect the National- and Ständerat ?

[ZuWo]

Exactly. 48.6% is actually not too bad. The fact that people can vote so frequently in Switzerland and the relative powerlessness of the national parliament (due to referenda and constitutional initiatives and strong regional parliaments) are probably the main reasons. I guess the low turnout merely reflects that things are going very well in Switzerland and people are quite happy and therefore don't feel a need to vote.
Additionally, I assume that due to the relatively low turnout the electorate - that is those people who actually participate in the elections - are informed quite well.

[Hashemite]

Turnout is usually much lower in referendums and initiatives. It has to do with an election-overload, a well known cause of low turnout.

[Vasall des Midas]

Exactly. 48.6% is actually not too bad. The fact that people can vote so frequently in Switzerland and the relative powerlessness of the national parliament (due to referenda and constitutional initiatives and strong regional parliaments) are probably the main reasons. I guess the low turnout merely reflects that things are going very well in Switzerland and people are quite happy and therefore don't feel a need to vote.

And the Zauberformel, of course. It's not as if voting ever changed anything.

Additionally, I assume that due to the relatively low turnout the electorate - that is those people who actually participate in the elections - are informed quite well.

Alas, no. That is an easy mistake to make and a fairly common claim, but not substantiable.
The, as it were, "marginal voter" will be less informed than those who always vote, but the same factors that drive higher turnout also tend to lead to people to become better informed.

[Sibboleth]

Anways... sorry for asking the obvious... link to results?

?

You know, it's not forbidden to do a quick independent google search.

http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/wahlen2011/standard/Rechts-und-Links-verlieren--neue-Mitte-gewinnt/story/24161936?dossier_id=1085#NRKarte

http://www.politik-stat.ch/nrw2011CH_de.html

These links provide a nice overview of the results in each canton.

Diolch, etc.

Are results for municipalities out yet?

[ZuWo]

3 runoff elections are held tomorrow (open seats for the Council of States).

Canton Schaffhausen:

1 open seat - Hannes Germann (SVP) was elected in the first round. He received 15 577 votes

Candidates for the single open seat:

Matthias Freivogel (SPS) - 7 141 votes in the first round
Thomas Minder (Independent) - 11 879 votes in the first round
Christian Heydecker - 8 179 votes in the first round

My prediction: Thomas Minder (Independent) will be elected

Link to results: http://www.sh.ch/Abstimmungen-und-Wahlen.304.0.html

Canton Thurgau:

1 open seat - Roland Eberle (SVP) was elected in the first round. He received 40 688 votes.

Candidates for the single open seat:

Brigitte Häberli-Koller (CVP) - 26 761 votes in the first round
Max Vögeli (FDP) - 21 941 votes in the first round

My prediction: Brigitte Häberli-Koller (CVP) will be elected

Link to results: http://www.tg.ch/xml_1/internet/de/application/d163/d11616/f12774.cfm

Canton Vaud:

2 open seats

Candidates for the two open seats:

Géraldine Savary (SPS) - 73 830 votes in the first round
Luc Recordon (GPS) - 70 147 votes in the first round
Guy Parmelin (SVP) - 46 063 votes in the first round
Isabelle Moret (FDP) - 37 808 votes in the first round

My prediction: The two leftist candidates will be elected

Link to results: http://www.elections.vd.ch/votelec/results.html?scrutin=CHCE20111113

[ZuWo]

My predictions were solid for once!

Schaffhausen:

Thomas Minder (Independent): 11 853 votes - ELECTED
Christian Heydecker (FDP): 7586
Matthias Freivogel (SPS): 8336 votes

Thurgau:

Brigitte Häberli-Koller (CVP): 26 777 votes - ELECTED
Max Vögeli (FDP): 18 348 votes

Vaud:

(nearly 100% of the ballots are counted):

Géraldine Savary (SPS): 69 671 votes - ELECTED
Luc Recordon (GPS): 63 776 votes - ELECTED
Isabelle Moret (FDP): 55 873 votes
Guy Parmelin (SVP): 52 765 votes

All in all, it's been a good day for the left as they managed to defend their 2 seats in Vaud. It's been a disaster for the FDP; not only have they lost a seat in Schaffhausen (the seat which Thomas Minder (Independent) gained today has been held by an FDP politician for years), but they also failed to gain seats in Thurgau and Vaud.
The SVP guy Guy Parmelin of Vaud may find some comfort in the fact that he is touted as a future Federal Councillor.

[ZuWo]

An outlook on some of the next runoff elections (all of them are elections for open seats in the Council of States):

Canton Bern

The incumbent Councillors Adrian Amstutz (SVP) and Werner Luginbühl (BDP) face a challenger from the left: Hans Stöckli (SPS).

First round:

Adrian Amstutz (SVP): 143 350 votes
Werner Luginbühl (BDP): 142 423 votes
Hans Stöckli (SPS): 128 633 votes

My prediction: The race is somewhat unpredictable because there are tensions between the SVP and the BDP. Additionally, Hans Stöckli is considered a more centrist candidate. Thus, he's got a real shot at defeating one of the two incumbents. Nevertheless, I believe Amstutz and Luginbühl will be reelected.

Link to results: http://www.sta.be.ch/sta/de/index/wahlen-abstimmungen/wahlen-abstimmungen/wahlen/wahlen_2011.html

Canton St. Gallen:

After a disappointing result in the first round, incumbent Councillor Eugen David (CVP) has announced that he would not seek reelection in a second round. Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP) has been elected in the first round, Toni Brunner (SVP) has come in second behind her. The CVP is running Michael Hüppi now. The SPS is running Paul Rechsteiner.

First round:

Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP): 101 181 votes - ELECTED
Toni Brunner (SVP): 56 347 votes
Eugen David (CVP): 47 774 votes - DROPPED OUT
Paul Rechsteiner (SPS):44 348 votes

My predicition: Toni Brunner will be elected due to the fact that his party has the largest base and he's facing two instead of just one candidate. This would result in an SVP gain from the CVP.

Link to results: http://www.abstimmungen.sg.ch/content/abstimmungen/home/Wahlen/staenderatswahlen/staenderatswahlen/Ergebnisse.html

Canton Zurich:

This is my home canton! In the first round, both incumbent Councillors (Felix Gutzwiller (FDP) and Verena Diener (GLP)) failed to gain an absolute majority. Nevertheless, since their only opponent is the polarising politician Christoph Blocher (SVP) and all major parties except the SVP now support the two incumbents, it should be a cakewalk for Gutzwiller and Diener. Like in the first round, I'll cast my vote for Blocher (SVP).

First round:

Verena Diener (GLP): 157 945 votes
Felix Gutzwiller (FDP): 153 548 votes
Christoph Blocher (SVP): 131 041 votes

My prediction: As I said, barring a major surprise, Blocher does probably not stand a chance. He has a solid voter base (around 35% of the electorate) but centrist and leftist voters despise him.

Link to results: http://www.statistik.zh.ch/internet/justiz_inneres/statistik/de/wahlen_abstimmungen/wahlen_2011/staenderatswahlen2011wahlgang2/resultate.html#a-content

[Leftbehind]

Reckon Blocher will give up if not re-elected this time?

[ZuWo]

The SVP has presented two candidates for the elections to the Federal Council. The party currently holds 1 of the 7 Federal Council seats and aims at a second seat. Interestingly, the party has nominated two National Councillors who are considered to be moderates.

- Bruno Zuppiger (Zurich)
- Jean-François Rime (Fribourg)

Most experts believe Zuppiger has a better shot at being elected. The SVP's main goal is to unseat the former SVP and now BDP Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf in order to return to the old "Zauberformel", that is a composition of the Federal Council with 2 SVP, 2 SPS, 2 FDP and 1 CVP seats. At the moment, the composition of the Federal Council looks as follows: 2 SPS, 2 FDP, 1 SVP, 1 CVP, 1 BDP.

However, since the SPS, CVP, BDP, GPS and smaller centrist and leftist parties have a majority in the Swiss parliament, it seems unlikely that the BDP will lose its seat. At the moment, it looks like the FDP Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann might be voted out and replaced by one of the two SVP candidates.

Last week, the SPS presented two candidates for the seat that is going to be vacated by Micheline Calmy-Rey: Alain Berset (Fribourg) and Pierre-Yves Maillard (Vaud). Berset seems to be favoured to win.

[Californian Tony]

I long to see how the election will end up. It's weird to see that, for once, there is some suspense for the Federal Council election.

[Vasall des Midas]

The SVP has presented two candidates for the elections to the Federal Council. The party currently holds 1 of the 7 Federal Council seats and aims at a second seat. Interestingly, the party has nominated two National Councillors who are considered to be moderates.

- Bruno Zuppiger (Zurich)
- Jean-François Rime (Fribourg)

Most experts believe Zuppiger has a better shot at being elected. The SVP's main goal is to unseat the former SVP and now BDP Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf in order to return to the old "Zauberformel", that is a composition of the Federal Council with 2 SVP, 2 SPS, 2 FDP and 1 CVP seats. At the moment, the composition of the Federal Council looks as follows: 2 SPS, 2 FDP, 1 SVP, 1 CVP, 1 BDP.

Zauberformel was 2 SPS, 2 FDP, 2 CVP and 1 SVP, actually.

[Andrea]

In the run offs at the end of November, it seems SVP lost its seat in Bern to SP and in St. Gallen it was SPS which gained it from CVP. In Zurich it all ended as predicted.

[Sibboleth]

Have results for the election by municipality been published at all?

[ZuWo]

The SVP has presented two candidates for the elections to the Federal Council. The party currently holds 1 of the 7 Federal Council seats and aims at a second seat. Interestingly, the party has nominated two National Councillors who are considered to be moderates.

- Bruno Zuppiger (Zurich)
- Jean-François Rime (Fribourg)

Most experts believe Zuppiger has a better shot at being elected. The SVP's main goal is to unseat the former SVP and now BDP Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf in order to return to the old "Zauberformel", that is a composition of the Federal Council with 2 SVP, 2 SPS, 2 FDP and 1 CVP seats. At the moment, the composition of the Federal Council looks as follows: 2 SPS, 2 FDP, 1 SVP, 1 CVP, 1 BDP.

Zauberformel was 2 SPS, 2 FDP, 2 CVP and 1 SVP, actually.

Yes, that's right of course. The original "Zauberformel" was 2 SPS, 2 FDP, 2 CVP, 1 SVP. What I was referring to was the "new Zauberformel" that lasted from 2003-2007 with the CVP having 1, and the SVP 2 seats. It is possible that we see a resurrection of that "new Zauberformel" if the BDP Councillor is replaced by one of the SVP candidates. That would be the neatest solution in my opinion.

[ZuWo]

In the run offs at the end of November, it seems SVP lost its seat in Bern to SP and in St. Gallen it was SPS which gained it from CVP. In Zurich it all ended as predicted.

That's correct. At the same time, the SVP candidate Peter Föhn managed to unseat CVP incumbent Bruno Frick in Schwyz, and independent Thomas Minder from Schaffhausen decided to join the SVP fraction in the Council of States.

[ZuWo]

Have results for the election by municipality been published at all?

Not that I know of ... I'm afraid that if you are interested in the results of particular towns and regions you have to check the websites of every Swiss canton.

[ZuWo]

In a turn of events, the SVP has replaced one of its candidate, Bruno Zuppiger from Zurich, by Hansjörg Walter from Thurgau. The reason for this move is a recent news story that revealed that Zuppiger has been involved in an embezzlement scandal.

Walter is National Councillor and chairman of the Swiss Farmers' Association.