SWISS CONFEDERATION NATIONAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS OF 10 NOVEMBER 1999 ========================================================= Source: Swiss parliamentary website, party websites Introduction to Swiss elections --------------------------------------------------------- Switzerland is a federation of 23 Cantons, of which three (Appenzell, Basel and Unterwald) are historically divided into Half-Cantons. These 26 units serve as electoral districts in national elections. Each Canton and Half- Canton elects a number of Deputies proportional to its population. CANTONS AND HALF-CANTONS ========================================================= Canton Population Voters Deputies --------------------------------------------------------- 01 Aargau 534,000 351,130 15 Appenzell (divided) 02 Ausser Rhoden 54,000 35,716 2 03 Inner Rhoden 14,900 9,959 1 Basel (divided) 04 Basel-Land 255,300 175,116 7 05 Basel-Stadt 193,100 117,588 6 06 Bern 938,600 675,874 25 07 Fribourg 229,900 156,868 6 08 Geneve 396,600 209,047 11 09 Glarus 38,700 24,570 1 10 Graubunden 185,500 127,447 5 11 Jura 69,400 48,010 2 12 Luzern 342,900 230,726 10 13 Neuchatel 165,400 105,078 5 14 Sankt-Gall 443,900 283,297 12 15 Schaffhausen 73,700 48,182 2 16 Schwyz 125,200 84,406 3 17 Solothurn 241,600 163,747 7 18 Thurgau 225,400 141,044 7 19 Ticino 305,600 192,912 8 Unterwalden (divided) 20 Nidwalden 37,200 26,805 1 21 Obwalden 31,800 c23,000 1 22 Uri 33,800 25,451 1 23 Valais 273,400 182,841 7 24 Vaud 608,200 365,522 17 25 Zug 95,100 64,457 3 26 Zurich 1,181,600 780,462 34 --------------------------------------------------------- Total 7,094,800 4,531,667 200 --------------------------------------------------------- Because the Deputy for Obwalden was elected unopposed, no figure for the number of voters is available. The figure given is 72% of the population, the same percentage as for Nidwalden. --------------------------------------------------------- Each voter may cast as many votes as the Canton in which they vote elects Deputies. Thus, voters in Aargau may vote for up to 15 candidates. Swiss election statistics record the number of votes cast, not the number of voters who cast them. Within each Canton, Deputies are elected on a proportional list basis using the d'Hondt system. Votes from eliminated lists and eliminated candidates within a list are transferred until candidates reach a quota for election. Most Swiss use either French, German or Italian as their main language, and each major party thus has at least three names. Parties also tend to run under different names in different or even in the same Canton (see next paragraph). I have presented party names in the language of the relevant Canton: the table below gives party names in three languages. Parties may run more than one ticket in the same Canton: these may be separate men's and women's tickets, separate youth tickets, and/or tickets based different areas of a Canton. These lists are linked so that votes from one list may be transferred to another list of the same party. PARTIES ========================================================= Government parties --------------------------------------------------------- Christian Democratic Party CVP, Christlichdemokratische Volkspartei PDC, Parti Democrate-Chretien PDC, Partito popolare democratico Radical Democratic Party FVP, Freisinnig-demokratische Volkspartei PRD, Parti radical-democratique PLR, Partito liberale radicale Social-Democratic Party or Socialist Party SDP, Sozialdemokratische Partei PSS, Parti socialiste Suisse PS, Partito socialista Swiss People's Party SVP, Schweizerische Volkspartei UDC, Union democratique du centre UDC, Unione democratica di centro --------------------------------------------------------- These four parties have formed a continuous coalition government since 1959, with the post of President of the Council (prime minister) rotating annually. --------------------------------------------------------- Other parties electing Deputies --------------------------------------------------------- Alliance of the Left AG, Alliance de Gauche (Parti du Travail, SolidatiteS etc) Partito del lavoro Centre Left - Christian Social Party Centre gauche - Parti chretien-social Centre gauche - Parti social-democrate Mitte Links - Demokratisch-Soziale Partei Evangelical People's Party EVP, Evangelische Volkspartei PE, Parti evangelique PE, Partito evangelico Federal Democratic Union EDU, Eidgenossisch-Demokratische Union UDF, Union Democratique Federale Green Lists (under different names in each Canton) Grunes Bundnis Les Verts I verdi League of Ticinese LT, Lega dei ticinesi Liberal Party LP, Liberale Partei Les Liberaux List of Independents LU, Liste der Unabhangigen LI, Liste des Independants Swiss Democrats SD, Schweizer Demokraten DS, Democrates Suisses --------------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL PARTY STRENGTHS ========================================================= Government parties --------------------------------------------------------- Christian Democratic Party 34 Radical Democratic Party 43 Social-Democratic Party 51 Swiss People's Party 44 --------------------------------------------------------- Total government parties 172 --------------------------------------------------------- Other parties --------------------------------------------------------- Greens 9 Liberals 6 Alliance of the Left 3 Evangelical People's Party 3 Centre Left - Christian Social Party 2 Ticinese League 2 Federal Democratic Union 1 List of Independents 1 Swiss Democrats 1 --------------------------------------------------------- Total 27 --------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF VOTE PERCENTAGES BY PARTY AND CANTON ====================================================================== CANTON CDP RDP SDP SPP EPP Lib Green Other Total ====================================================================== Aargau 16.3 17.1 19.0 31.5 03.8 - 04.4 07.9 Appenzell AR - 32.8 29.7 37.6 - - - - Appenzell IR 46.6 - - - - - - 53.3 Basel-Land 11.7 22.0 23.6 18.0 02.4 - 09.4 12.9 Basel-Stadt 08.6 09.5 34.0 13.8 - 10.8 08.9 14.4 Bern 02.3 16.7 28.3 27.5 04.0 - 08.0 13.2 Fribourg 31.6 14.7 22.1 11.7 - - 00.3 19.6 Geneve 13.6 13.1 17.7 08.4 - 19.6 07.7 19.9 Glarus - - 85.7 - - - - 14.3 Graubunden 23.8 15.4 27.6 27.5 - - - 05.7 Jura 38.9 19.5 34.3 07.2 - - - - Luzern 33.2 22.4 10.3 23.3 - - 08.3 02.5 Neuchatel - 17.6 29.3 - - 24.9 15.2 13.0 Sankt-Gall 25.2 16.0 17.0 28.0 01.4 - 04.9 07.5 Schaffhausen - 40.4 33.6 26.1 - - - - Schwyz 27.1 19.1 16.5 35.9 - - - 01.4 Solothurn 22.0 22.5 25.2 19.0 - 03.6 05.1 02.6 Thurgau 15.6 14.4 16.1 33.3 - 02.8 06.2 11.6 Ticino 25.8 27.2 19.3 05.4 - - 01.4 20.9 Unterwalden N - 90.4 - - - - - 09.6 Unterwalden O Uri - 81.7 - - - - - 18.3 Valais 36.0 18.0 18.5 09.6 - 01.7 02.3 13.9 Vaud 04.7 25.1 22.7 13.5 - 12.8 07.4 13.8 Zug 26.3 25.6 23.4 21.4 - - - 03.3 Zurich 05.0 17.3 26.1 31.9 04.6 00.1 03.9 11.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF SEATS BY PARTY AND CANTON ====================================================================== CANTON CDP RDP SDP SPP EPP Lib Green Other Total ====================================================================== Aargau 3 3 3 5 1 - - - 15 Appenzell AR - 1 - 1 - - - - 2 Appenzell IR 1 - - - - - - - 1 Basel-Land 1 2 2 1 - - 1 - 7 Basel-Stadt - 1 3 1 - 1 - - 6 Bern 1 5 8 8 1 - 2 2 27 Fribourg 2 1 2 - - - - 1 6 Geneve 2 2 2 - - 2 1 2 11 Glarus - - 1 - - - - - 1 Graubunden 1 1 1 2 - - - - 5 Jura 1 - 1 - - - - - 2 Luzern 4 2 1 2 - - 1 - 10 Neuchatel - 1 2 - - 1 1 - 5 Sankt-Gall 4 2 2 3 - - 1 - 12 Schaffhausen - 1 1 - - - - - 2 Schwyz 1 1 - 1 - - - - 3 Solothurn 2 2 2 1 - - - - 7 Thurgau 1 1 1 3 - - - - 6 Ticino 2 2 2 - - - - 2 8 Unterwalden N - 1 - - - - - - 1 Unterwalden O 1 - - - - - - - 1 Uri - 1 - - - - - - 1 Valais 3 1 2 - - - - 1 7 Vaud 1 5 5 2 - 2 1 1 17 Zug 1 1 - 1 - - - - 3 Zurich 2 6 10 13 1 - 1 1 34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 34 43 51 44 3 6 9 10 200 ----------------------------------------------------------------------