Received few election envelopes so far: Want to vote? Cheers!

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This fall, Swiss voters will have the opportunity to elect the new parliament for the next four years. This time too, it is unlikely that about half of eligible voters will participate in the elections.

A look at various Swiss cities shows that turnout by post has not been particularly high so far. In almost all cities surveyed, participation is lower so far than in the same period four years ago. In the last national elections in 2019, 45.1 percent of eligible voters went to the polls.

Low response rate

In St. Gallen, only 16.4 percent of eligible voters had voted by post on Wednesday. According to population services, turnout at the last national and state elections was higher 13 days before election Sunday on October 7, 2019 – at 17.2 percent.

In the federal city of Bern, 13,443 return envelopes were received on Wednesday, which corresponds to 15.1 percent of all eligible voters. In 2019, about 16.0 percent had already submitted their wish to parliament by the same deadline. The situation in Geneva does not look much better: only 16 percent have already voted there.

At least 19.1 percent of eligible voters in the city of Basel cast their vote by post; four years earlier, the turnout was 20.0 percent at the same time.

Dutiful residents of Zurich

The people of Zurich have so far exercised their rights more zealously. 21.7 percent have already participated in the elections there. When asked by the city, the turnout was comparable and generally slightly higher. However, the trend does not allow conclusions to be drawn about the public interest or overall turnout until election Sunday on October 22.

However, according to the survey, experts already expect that turnout will be lower than in 2019. The importance of the upcoming elections for the future of Switzerland is considered less important than that of the 2019 elections, according to the latest SRG election barometer from Sotomo research institute. Mobilization will likely be more difficult, especially among leftists, than in 2019.

GLP supporters less motivated

Four years ago, according to a survey, four in five voters believed that the outcome of the elections was (very) important for the future of Switzerland, and half even thought it was very important. This share has fallen this year, only forty percent consider the outcome of the elections very important, a third consider it quite important.

The electoral barometer concludes that the decline in urgency on the left is greater than on the right. Mobilization in the left camp is likely to be correspondingly more demanding this year.

The decline in the assessment of the importance of the elections among the Green Liberal base is particularly striking. Their followers had the lowest approval rating on this question.

Source:Blick