We go to the polls on Sunday: this is what you need to know about the 2023 elections

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The members of the Federal Parliament – ​​i.e. 200 National Councilors (people’s representatives) and 46 States Councilors (cantonal representatives). There are actually only 44 Members of Parliament: Appenzell Innerrhoden elected its Council of States in the municipality in April of the election year – and that is still the centrist politician Daniel Fässler (63). In the cantons of Obwalden, the winner has already been determined: Erich Ettlin (61) was confirmed in a silent election – there was simply no opposing candidate.

In general, every Swiss citizen who is at least 18 years old has the right to vote in elections at the federal level, unless the person has extended support due to permanent disability. No registration is required to vote or vote for the first time. Those entitled to vote are officially registered in the voting register of their place of residence.

Yes, Swiss people who have settled abroad, so-called Swiss abroad, have the opportunity to participate in federal elections. To do this, you must register with the relevant Swiss representation abroad and register in the voting register of your last municipality of residence or your municipality of residence (if you have never lived in Switzerland).

No. Voting and voting are compulsory in only one canton: Schaffhausen. Anyone who stays away from the urn will be fined six francs.

No, every eligible voter receives the voting rights documents by post and is included in the voters’ register of his/her place of residence. You can then vote by post (although it is already too late for that) or at the polls on election day.

Yes! Certain voters in the cantons of Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen and Thurgau can vote electronically and thus gain experience with the system developed by the post office. Basel-Stadt wants to make electronic voting available to Swiss citizens abroad and people with disabilities. In St. Gallen, authorities want to make electronic voting available to voters abroad and in the communities of Kirchberg, Widnau, Goldach, Vilters-Wangs and Rapperswil-Jona. In Thurgau, only Swiss abroad can vote electronically.

The cantons and municipalities are responsible for elections. The Federal Chancellery provides information about the applicable rules and checks that no one appears twice on different electoral lists.

But the rules – like many things in Switzerland – differ from canton to canton. In cantons with more than one seat in the National Council, parties or other groups draw up electoral lists of candidates. Only candidates on the electoral list can then be elected.

It is different in cantons with only one seat in the grand chamber of parliament. In Obwalden and Nidwalden, only people who are actually on the party’s ballot papers can be elected. In Uri, Glarus, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden, anyone who is entitled to vote can be elected. These cantons do not have a mandatory registration procedure.

In the National Council, the number of seats a canton is entitled to depends on its population size. So there are always shifts. For example, in the fall of 2019, the low-growth cantons of Bern and Lucerne each lost one seat, while Geneva and Vaud each gained one seat as their inhabitants grew the most. In 2023, Basel-Stadt will have to give up a seat to Zurich.

Things are different at the Council of States. Here each canton has two seats. Exceptions are the half-cantons: Basel-Stadt/Basel-Land, the two Appenzell and Ob- and Nidwalden. In the Stöckli you may only occupy one seat.

A total of 14 parties are registered with the Federal Chancellery. However, it is not the parties that are elected, but people who can come together to form lists. An example of this is the Corona measures-critical movement Mass-Voll. In order to participate in the elections, Mass-Voll had to find supporters for her lists.

Some parties – for example the SP – run multiple lists. The classic ones are the men’s list, the women’s list and a boys’ list. These lists contain the candidates. You can now easily put the frame you like into the smaller envelope.

Or you can edit a list. For example, you can cross out the names of candidates you don’t like with a black or blue ballpoint pen. Or you can write names on it a second time – this is called cumulating. In the latter case, the candidates receive two votes, as it were. However, the same name may appear a maximum of twice on a list.

Another way to change the list is to vary it, that is, to mix it. For example, you can take the GLP list, but add names of candidates from other parties that you like, for example from the Center Party. However, you must then remove the corresponding number of GLP candidates. This way you can express your general party preference, but still vote for other candidates.

Voters can even take the empty list and write down candidates from different lists themselves. So you enter the candidate numbers, first names, last names and places of residence in the empty list. And you can write someone down twice more. However, they may only register a maximum of as many candidates as their canton has seats. However, you can write less and therefore leave lines blank. If a list name is entered at the top of the self-composed electoral list, the empty lines are assigned to this list – for example the Greens.

Scribbles on the lists, incomplete numbers and names or the word “ditto” instead of repeating a candidate’s name are not permitted.

The voters then put the completed list – possibly together with the one for the election of the Council of States – in the smaller envelope and seal it. Then you must definitely sign the voting rights card in the space provided – except in the canton of Basel-Stadt.

The smaller envelope and the signed voting card are then placed together in the reused larger envelope. The large envelope must then be sealed and, depending on the canton, postage paid. – And there goes the mail.

Or you can go to the polls in person on Sunday morning, October 22, 2023, with the completed voting documents.

Nothing. Once the ballot is completed and submitted, it is valid. After all, the next opportunity will come in four years – that’s how often federal elections take place.

Most cantons vote using the proportional representation method. This means that seats in parliament are distributed as accurately as possible based on the voter share that the parties achieve at the ballot box. That is why proportional representation is also called proportional representation. First, the party strength per canton is determined and the seats are distributed among the parties accordingly. Only then will the politicians with the most votes get a seat. Example: In a canton that has 10 seats up for grabs, party X with a 20 percent voter share receives two mandates. The two politicians from Party

Six small cantons with only one National Council seat use the Majorz method. These are: Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Glarus, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri. The elections for the Council of States are also majority elections almost everywhere. The politician (and not the party) who receives the most votes is elected. Provided that the absolute majority (see below) has been achieved. Because of this obstacle, second voting rounds often take place in elections for the Council of States with many candidates.

It is achieved when a politician has received at least half of the valid votes cast plus one vote. If there are two candidates, the one who receives the most votes automatically has the absolute majority. The more candidates, the higher the absolute majority and the more difficult it is to achieve.

The seven-member Federal Council is not elected by the people. Instead, the so-called United Federal Assembly, that is, the National Council and the Council of States, elects the Federal Councils. The next elections for the Federal Council will take place on December 13. Where not only a successor is being sought for the outgoing Alain Berset (51), but all other six federal council members are also up for re-election. Chancellor Walter Thurnherr (60) is also no longer active and must be replaced.

Political groups are generally not important to voters. But for the candidates: if, for example, at least five of the Mass Voll candidates are not elected, they cannot form their own faction, that is, a group, in parliament. This means: Massvoll boss Nicolas Rimoldi (28), who has the best chance of getting a seat, would then have to look for a faction – or just politicize. But then he can’t sit on a committee.

It is important that not only MPs from the same party, but also like-minded people can come together in a parliamentary group. The factions discuss important issues in parliament and try to agree on uniform positions. Above all, they receive an annual contribution from the federal government to cover the costs of their secretariats. The contribution consists of a basic amount of 144,500 francs and an additional 26,800 francs per faction member.

No, but the list connections are important again for the elections. In cantons where elections are based on proportional representation, parties can combine their lists to increase the chance of winning seats. When distributing seats after the elections, the linked lists are initially treated as one list, which increases the chance of additional mandates. The seats are then distributed among the individual lists according to the proportional rules.

Yes, this means that the parties that are combined in a list can further increase the chance of seats. But that’s a lot of electoral math. And only those affiliated under the same name may continue to join forces. For example, party X, X women and X boys form a list connection with party Y and Y women. Then only the X, X women and X boys may come together in a sublist. And Party Y and the Y women may make a sublist. But X with Y doesn’t work.

Everything can be complicated, but the only thing that matters to voters is which candidates they want to see as national and state councilors in the federal parliament. Write these names on the list.

Source:Blick