Swiss Elections & Politics (Next election 2019)

[ZuWo]

The left-leaning Tagesanzeiger has published a (IMO) hilarous and brutal caricature of the birth-control-in-third-world-countries clause:



text on the left: "For free: 1 Swiss Cheese Fondue for each sterilization performed"

text on the right: "What's that?" - "Environmental protection by Ecopop"

http://files.newsnetz.ch/bildlegende/20708/2070255_pic_970x641.jpg

[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

[ZuWo]

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.
    

[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?

[ZuWo]

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?

I'm undecided. I don't buy into that conspiracy theorist mindset that is unfortunately widespread among proponents of the proposal. Additionally, I'd prefer the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to remain politically independent so I'm wary of voting for burdening the central bank with further constitutional constraints.

On the other hand, gold only makes up about 8% of the assets of the SNB while the gold share in neighboring countries is a lot higher. The SNB has invested heavily in foreign currencies during the last years in order to prevent the Swiss franc from getting even stronger as this would be detrimental to the Swiss export and tourism industries. Thus, it is stuck with a very high share of foreign money, especially euros. Indeed, some analysts consider this a risky strategy in the long run.

[MaxQue]

It would be helpful to provide some kind of explanation or translation.

[Yeahsayyeah]

It is a brief analysis of the referendum results concerning "opening"/international integration of and immigration to Switzerland) classified by location ("Stadt" (urban) - orange/ "Agglomeration"  (suburban, metro area)/ - red "land" (rural) - grey). The results of each voting group are compared to the overall results (in percentage points)


The main point is that suburban voters have become more isolationist over time compared to the mean.

[Beezer]

And similar to the US it shows an increasing degree of ideological cohesiveness in the parties.

[SNJ1985]

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

[Tender Branson]

The official Budgets for the Campaigns nextYear are (cf. NZZ):

SVP ?
FDP 3,0
CVP 1,5-2,0
SPS 1,5
BDP 0,4
GLP 0,3
EVP 0,25
GPS 0,2 (+cantonalCampaigns)

Like usual, the Swiss know how to keep it cheap.

I wish our public party financing would be cut severely as well (like NEOS wants it), because our parties spent 50 Mio. € on the 2013 campaign.

[ZuWo]

The polls have closed and the first municipal results are in. The statistical department of Zurich has also published its first projection on the three federal referenda which are voted on today:

1. Abolition of lump-sum taxes:

49.2% YES, 50.8% NO (too close to call)

2. Ecopop initiative:

23.4% YES, 76.6% NO

3. Gold initiative:

19.8% YES, 80.2% NO

[Tender Branson]

Too bad ECOPOP did so poorly. I really liked it.

A victory for the high Swiss (or in general) population growth, overcrowding, overconsumption and 10 kids-per-family in Africa-fetishists.

[ZuWo]

All results are in.

Abolition of the lump-sum-tax initiative:

1,052,955 YES (40,8%) - 1,527,908 NO (59,2%)
1 canton (Schaffhausen) YES - 22 cantons NO

Ecopop initiative:

671,347 YES (25,9%) - 1,919,984 NO (74,1%)
0 cantons YES - 23 cantons NO

Gold initiative:

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

Results with maps:

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimedia/all-vote-results--november-30/41134608

[Tender Branson]

I have a technical question about Swiss elections.

Considering 80%+ of Swiss voters vote by post ahead of election day, are all eligible Swiss voters automatically receiving their ballots in the mail box a few weeks ahead of the election or does every voter need to request a mail ballot ?

[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?

[ZuWo]

Every Swiss citizen receives his or her ballot by mail one month before a referendum or election so that happens at least four times a year. There is no way of opting out. If you don't want to participate in a referendum or election, you don't have to - unless you live in the canton of Schaffhausen, where voting is mandatory.

As for Ticino, the right-wing shift on the issue of immigration can be explained by two closely intertwined factors, namely the free-movement of persons agreement between Switzerland and the European Union and Italy's high jobless rate. Obviously it is very appealing for well-educated but unemployed Italians to try to look for a job (not far away from home, same language, higher wages). And the increasing competition on the job market makes it harder for people of Ticinese origin to find work.

[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

[greenforest32]

Has Switzerland ever had a referendum on marijuana legalization? Any recent polls on the issue?

I was just reading over some of these Swiss referendum articles on Wikipedia and I got curious about this considering all the proposals that have been voted on over the years.

[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

[ZuWo]

Simonetta Sommaruga (SP) is going to be President of the Swiss Confederation in 2015. Memers of both chambers of the Swiss parliament elected her with 181 out of potential 246 votes today, which is a pretty good result.

Sommaruga will succeed Didier Burkhalter (FDP), whose tenure has been overshadowed by the domestic debate on the future of Switzerland's role in Europe as well as the Ukraine conflict. Indeed, Switzerland happened to head the OSCE this year so Burkhalter spent a lot of time traveling to Kiev and trying to arbitrate between the Ukraine and Russia.

[greenforest32]

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

Thanks. I wonder if the strict prohibition enforcement here in the U.S. is why it's fairing so well in terms of public support lately. Maybe Switzerland has seen a similar change in public opinion over the last six years?

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The difference between the marijuana debate in the US and Europe is marked. In the US legalisation has topped polls for quite some time, due to the well-funded organisations in favour and the very visible effects of the drug war sparking backash. In Europe - even in supposed left-wing paradise lands - legalisation remains a very niche nonstarter. The few parties that support it are widely avoided - look at NEOS in Austria being dragged into supporting it, then collapsing in the polls. I think "Ming" Flanegan got a free vote in the Irish Dail about marijuana legalisation and got like 4 votes in favour.

[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

[ZuWo]

The figures aren't brand new but since pre-election polls in Switzerland are so rare I will post them anyway:

Institut Léger (December 2014)

SVP: 23.8%
SP: 19.8%
FDP: 15.7%
CVP: 12.4%
GP: 8.2%
GLP: 7.4%
BDP: 7.2%
EVP: 1.8%
EDU: 0.9%
other: 2.7%

http://www.leger360.com/admin/upload/publi_pdf/Léger%20POLITbarometer%20Dez14.pdf

gfs.bern (October 2014)

SVP: 24.6%
SP: 20.1%
FDP: 15.8%
CVP: 11.2%
GP: 7.3%
GLP: 7.3%
BDP: 4.6%
EVP: 1.8%
EDU: 1.4%
Lega: 1%
other: 4.7%

http://www.blick.ch/news/politik/wahl-barometer-2015-svp-droht-die-naechste-schlappe-id3172680.html

For reference, the results of the 2011 elections can be found here.