2015 Swiss federal election

2015 Swiss federal election

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All 200 seats in the National Council (101 seats needed for a majority) All 46 seats in the Council of States (24 seats needed for a majority)
Turnout	48.5% 0.0 pp
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– National Council Swiss People's Toni Brunner 29.4% 65 +11 Social Democrats Christian Levrat 18.8% 43 −3 FDP.The Liberals Philipp Müller 16.4% 33 +3 Christian Democrats Christophe Darbellay 11.6% 27 −1 Greens Adèle Thorens Regula Rytz 7.1% 11 −4 Green Liberals Martin Bäumle 4.6% 7 −5 BDP Martin Landolt 4.1% 7 −2 Evangelical People's Marianne Streiff 1.9% 2 0 Ticino League Attilio Bignasca 1.0% 2 0 Labour Gavriel Pinson 0.4% 1 +1 CSP Obwalden Sepp Stalder 0.4% 1 0 Geneva Citizens' Roger Golay 0.3% 1 0 Council of States Christian Democrats 13 0 FDP.The Liberals 13 +2 Social Democrats 12 +1 Swiss People's 5 0 Greens 1 −1 BDP 1 0 Independent 1 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. National Council Council of States

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 18 October 2015 for the National Council and the first round of elections to the Council of States, with runoff elections to the Council of States being held in various cantons until 22 November. ^{[1] [2]}

Results showed a shift, due to voter concerns regarding refugee immigration, to the right and increased support for the three largest parties, with the strong showing of Swiss People's Party and FDP.The Liberals possibly affecting future reforms of energy, social security and tax issues, as well as the make-up of the seven-member government. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

The Swiss People's Party won a record number of seats, taking a third of the 200-seat lower house. The SVP received the highest proportion of votes of any Swiss political party since 1919, when proportional representation was first introduced, ^[6] and it received more seats in the National Council than any other political party since 1963, when the number of seats was set at 200. ^[7]

The federal election was followed by the 2015 Swiss Federal Council election on 9 December 2015, where the SVP won a second seat on the Federal Council. ^[8]

Electoral system

The 200 members of the National Council were elected by plurality in six single-member constituencies, and by proportional representation in 20 multi-member constituencies, with the 26 constituencies being the 26 cantons. ^[9] The elections were held using the open list system where voters could cross out names on party lists, with voters also able to split their vote between parties (a system known as panachage) or draw up their own list on a blank ballot. Seats are allocated using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system. ^[10]

The 46 members of the Council of States were elected in 20 two-seat constituencies (representing the 20 full cantons) and six single-member constituencies (representing the six half-cantons). In Jura and Neuchâtel the elections were held using proportional representation. In the other cantons, councilors are elected through an up to two-round system of voting. In the first round of voting, candidates must obtain an absolute majority of the vote in order to be elected. If no candidate receives an absolute majority in the first round of voting then a second round is held in which a simple plurality is sufficient to be elected. The top two finishing candidates are elected in the second round. ^{[11] [12]}

Compulsory voting was in force in the canton of Schaffhausen for both elections. ^[13]

Campaign

The parties contesting the elections were:

Political party	Leader	Political spectrum
Swiss People's Party (SVP)	Toni Brunner	Right-wing
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP)	Christian Levrat	Centre-left to left-wing
FDP.The Liberals (FDP)	Philipp Müller	Centre-right
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP/PDC)	Christophe Darbellay	Centre to centre-right
Green Party of Switzerland (GPS)	Adèle Thorens, Regula Rytz	Left-wing
Green Liberal Party of Switzerland (glp)	Martin Bäumle	Centre
Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP)	Martin Landolt	Centre to centre-right
Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland (EVP)	Marianne Streiff	Centre
Ticino League (TL)	Attilio Bignasca	Right-wing
Alternative Left (AL)	Frédéric Charpié	Left-wing
Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU)	Hans Moser	Right-wing
Christian Social Party (Switzerland) (CSP)	Marius Achermann	Centre-left
Geneva Citizens' Movement (MCG)	Roger Golay	Right-wing

Opinion polls

Date	Institution	SVP	SPS	FDP	CVP	GPS	BDP	GLP	EVP	AL	EDU	LEGA	CSP	MCG	Other	Lead
18 October 2015	2015 Elections	29.4%	18.8%	16.4%	11.6%	7.1%	4.1%	4.6%	1.9%	1.2%	1.2%	1.0%	0.2%	0.3%	–	10.6%
2 October 2015	Sotomo/20min [ permanent dead link ‍]	29.0%	18.4%	15.8%	11.4%	7.4%	4.9%	5.2%	–	–	–	–	–	–	7.9%	10.6%
16 September 2015	Sotomo/20min [ permanent dead link ‍]	29.0%	17.6%	16.8%	11.2%	6.9%	4.9%	5.1%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	11.4%
21–28 August 15	GfS Berne/SSR [ permanent dead link ‍]	28.0%	19.3%	16.9%	11.1%	7.4%	4.2%	4.3%	1.7%	–	–	–	–	–	7.1%	8.7%
24 June 2015	20min/Somoto [ permanent dead link ‍]	27.6%	18.2%	16.4%	12.0%	6.8%	4.9%	5.0%	–	–	–	–	–	–	13.0%	9.4%
24 June 2015	GfS Berne/SSR	26.1%	19.3%	17.1%	11.5%	7.4%	4.4%	4.8%	1.9%	–	1.1%	0.9%	–	–	5.5%	6.8%
31 March 2015	GfS Berne/SSR	26.2%	19.6%	16.3%	11.8%	7.5%	4.6%	5.6%	1.9%	–	1.0%	0.8%	–	–	4.7%	6.5%
21 December 2014	Léger Marketing/Le Matin	23.8%	19.8%	15.7%	12.4%	8.2%	7.2%	7.4%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6.0%
3 October 2014	GfS Berne/Le Temps	24.6%	20.1%	15.8%	11.2%	7.3%	4.8%	7.3%	1.8%	–	1.4%	1%	–	–	4.7%	4.5%
30 March 2014	Léger Marketing/Le Matin	25%	19.4%	15.2%	12.2%	7.4%	6.9%	6.6%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	5.6%
27 September 2013	GfS Berne/SSR [ permanent dead link ‍]	25.8%	18.7%	14.7%	11.7%	8.3%	7.5%	5.8%	1.8%	1.2%	1.0%	1.0%	–	–	2.5%	7.1%
15 September 2013	Isopublic/Le Matin	24.3%	19.6%	14.1%	13.1%	7.3%	6.1%	6.6%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4.7%
21 October 2012	Isopublic/Blick [ permanent dead link ‍]	23.7%	19.5%	15.9%	12.9%	8.2%	6.9%	7.0%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4.2%
16 September 2012	Isopublic/Le Matin	23.9%	19.3%	16.3%	13%	8.2%	6.2%	7.7%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4.6%
25 March 2012	Isopublic/Le Matin	23.7%	19.9%	15.8%	12.1%	8.2%	7.0%	7.5%	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3.8%
23 October 2011	2011 Elections	26.6%	18.7%	15.1%	12.3%	8.4%	5.4%	5.4%	2%	0.9%	1.3%	0.8%	0.3%	0.4%	–	7.9%

Results

Global media commented on the gains of the Swiss People's Party, linking it to concerns of the electorate on the European migrant crisis. ^{[7] [14] [15] [16]} Combined, right-of-centre parties received a slim 101-seat majority in the National Council. ^{[5] [6]} While the right-of-centre SVP and FDP made gains, centrist and left-of-centre parties lost seats in the National Council. ^{[17] [18]} The FDP increased its share of the popular vote for the first time since the 1979 federal election. ^[18]

In the Swiss capital Bern, a group of activists in favour of settling refugees held a demonstration on the day of the election, which is prohibited by law. A total of 110 were arrested. ^[19]

The election results elicited various responses from the Swiss media, such as that the election represented "a return to normality" after a period when the legislative makeup was not as clear, or that it represented "a divided country." ^{[20] [21]} Newspapers, both in Switzerland and in other countries, also noted the SVP's historic gains. ^[21]

National Council

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Swiss People's Party	734,171	29.43	65	+11
	Social Democratic Party	470,339	18.86	43	−3
	FDP.The Liberals	408,793	16.39	33	+3
	Christian Democratic People's Party	289,719	11.61	27	−1
	Green Party	176,075	7.06	11	−4
	Green Liberal Party	115,604	4.63	7	−5
	Conservative Democratic Party	102,598	4.11	7	−2
	Evangelical People's Party	47,355	1.90	2	0
	Federal Democratic Union	29,701	1.19	0	0
	Ticino League	24,713	0.99	2	0
	Solidarity	20,199	0.81	0	0
	Swiss Party of Labour			1	+1
	Pirate Party	10,373	0.42	0	0
	Christian Social Party of Obwalden	9,911	0.40	1	0
	Alternative List	8,908	0.36	0	0
	Geneva Citizens' Movement	8,069	0.32	1	0
	Christian Social Party	5,207	0.21	0	0
	Ecopop	3,649	0.15	0	0
	Swiss Democrats	3,052	0.12	0	0
	Enabling Democracy	2,776	0.11	0	0
	Art + Politics	2,307	0.09	0	0
	Integral Policy	1,883	0.08	0	0
	Animal Party Switzerland	1,796	0.07	0	0
	MontagnaViva	1,609	0.06	0	0
	Alpine Parliament	1,324	0.05	0	0
	Blank Vote List	1,266	0.05	0	0
	Philipp Jutzi	1,199	0.05	0	0
	Direct Democratic Party	942	0.04	0	0
	Communist Party	907	0.04	0	0
	Stop Traffic Jams and Speed Camera Terror - The List of Drivers	821	0.03	0	0
	Swiss Nationalist Party	792	0.03	0	0
	Non-Party	710	0.03	0	0
	Popular Action Against too Many Foreigners and Asylum Seekers	698	0.03	0	0
	Green Independents	656	0.03	0	0
	Seeds of the Future	458	0.02	0	0
	Independent Swiss	451	0.02	0	0
	Sarah Bösch – The Original	379	0.02	0	0
	Rauraque du Nord	376	0.02	0	0
	New Liberal Party	347	0.01	0	0
	Non-Selector.ch	300	0.01	0	0
	The Swiss Independence Party up!	284	0.01	0	0
	Vaud Independents	274	0.01	0	0
	Fluffy Hans-Ueli (Hemp-Ueli)	267	0.01	0	0
	Social Liberal Movement	245	0.01	0	0
	Marcel Giger Amden Independent	242	0.01	0	0
	El Presidente	231	0.01	0	0
	Center Party	205	0.01	0	0
	Patriotic Liberal Democrats	135	0.01	0	0
	Anti-PowerPoint Party	125	0.01	0	0
	DU – The Apolitical	123	0.00	0	0
	Solution Oriented People's Movement	118	0.00	0	0
	Lega Sud	104	0.00	0	0
	I Liberisti	83	0.00	0	0
	mach-politik.ch	65	0.00	0	0
	Mouvement Democratique Cademos	63	0.00	0	0
	Impossible Alternative	51	0.00	0	0
	Swiss Freedom and Justice	48	0.00	0	0
	Other parties	1,321	0.05	0	0
Total		2,494,417	100.00	200	0
Valid votes		2,494,417	98.93
Invalid/blank votes		27,085	1.07
Total votes		2,521,502	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,295,506	47.62
Source: Statistics Switzerland, Elections 2015, IFES

Council of States

Party		Seats	+/–
	Christian Democratic People's Party	13	0
	FDP.The Liberals	13	+2
	Social Democratic Party	12	+1
	Swiss People's Party	5	0
	Green Party	1	−1
	Conservative Democratic Party	1	0
	Green Liberal Party	0	−2
	Independents	1	0
Total		46	0
Source: Statistics Switzerland

By canton

Canton	Seat 1		Party	Seat 2		Party
ZH Zurich		Daniel Jositsch	Social Democratic Party		Ruedi Noser	FDP.The Liberals
BE Berne		Werner Luginbühl*	Conservative Democratic Party		Hans Stöckli*	Social Democratic Party
LU Lucerne		Konrad Graber*	Christian Democratic People's Party		Damian Müller	FDP.The Liberals
UR Uri		Isidor Baumann*	Christian Democratic People's Party		Josef Dittli	FDP.The Liberals
SZ Schwyz		Peter Föhn*	Swiss People's Party		Alex Kuprecht*	Swiss People's Party
OW Obwald		Hans Wicki	FDP.The Liberals	N/A
NW Nidwald		Erich Ettlin	Christian Democratic People's Party	N/A
GL Glaris		Thomas Hefti	FDP.The Liberals		Werner Hösli	Swiss People's Party
ZG Zoug		Joachim Eder*	FDP.The Liberals		Peter Hegglin	Christian Democratic People's Party
FR Friburg		Christian Levrat*	Social Democratic Party		Beat Vonlanthen	Christian Democratic People's Party
SO Soleure		Pirmin Bischof*	Christian Democratic People's Party		Roberto Zanetti*	Social Democratic Party
BS Basle-City		Anita Fetz*	Social Democratic Party	N/A
BL Basle-Country		Claude Janiak*	Social Democratic Party	N/A
SH Schaffhouse		Hannes Germann*	Swiss People's Party		Thomas Minder*	Independent
AR Appenzell Outer-Rhodes		Andrea Caroni	FDP.The Liberals	N/A
AI Appenzell Inner-Rhodes		Ivo Bischofberger*	Christian Democratic People's Party	N/A
SG St Gall		Karin Keller-Sutter*	FDP.The Liberals		Paul Rechsteiner*	Social Democratic Party
GR Grisons		Stefan Engler*	Christian Democratic People's Party		Martin Schmid*	FDP.The Liberals
AG Argovia		Pascale Bruderer*	Social Democratic Party		Philipp Müller	FDP.The Liberals
TG Thurgovia		Roland Eberle*	Swiss People's Party		Brigitte Häberli-Koller*	Christian Democratic People's Party
TI Tessin		Fabio Abate*	FDP.The Liberals		Filippo Lombardi*	Christian Democratic People's Party
VD Vaud		Olivier Français	FDP.The Liberals		Géraldine Savary*	Social Democratic Party
VS Valais		Jean-René Fournier*	Christian Democratic People's Party		Beat Rieder	Christian Democratic People's Party
NE Neuchâtel		Didier Berberat*	Social Democratic Party		Raphaël Comte*	FDP.The Liberals
GE Geneva		Robert Cramer*	Green Party		Liliane Maury Pasquier*	Social Democratic Party
JU Jura		Claude Hêche*	Social Democratic Party		Anne Seydoux-Christe*	Christian Democratic People's Party
* indicates a candidate that was re-elected. Source: Statistics Switzerland

Aftermath

The 2015 federal election was followed by the 2015 Swiss Federal Council election on 9 December 2015. ^[8]

Owing to the results of the federal election, Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, a member of the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP), announced she would not run for re-election, as the Swiss People's Party (SVP) won a record percentage of the vote, while her own party decreased its share. ^[22] The SVP was widely expected to fill her seat in the election, and it chose Thomas Aeschi (Zug), Guy Parmelin (Vaud) and Norman Gobbi (Ticino) as candidates for the seat, with Aeschi being the favorite at the time. ^{[23] [24]}

Guy Parmelin, of the SVP, was ultimately elected on 9 December. ^[8] Parmelin, a farmer and winegrower from Bursins in canton Vaud, was the first member of the Federal Council who is also a member of the Swiss People's Party from the French-speaking part of Switzerland. ^{[8] [25]}

There was a minor cabinet reshuffle after the election, as newly elected Parmelin was selected to become head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports, replacing fellow SVP-member Ueli Maurer, who became head of the Federal Department of Finance. ^[26] The SVP gained its second seat in the Federal Council, which it had lost in 2008, when the newly created BDP split from the SVP.

References

1. "Parties Manoeuvre for Seats in Swiss Senate". The Local . 19 October 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
2. "Final Composition of Swiss Parliament Emerges". Swissinfo . 23 November 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
3. "Homepage Elections 2015". Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
4. Duc-Nguyen, Quang (22 October 2015). "Parliament's Shift to the Right, in Figures". Swissinfo . Retrieved 12 December 2016.
5. Geiser, Urs. "Parliament shifts to the right". Swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
6. Gerber, Marlène; Mueller, Sean (23 October 2015). "4 Cool Graphs that Explain Sunday's Swiss Elections". The Washington Post . Retrieved 13 December 2016.
7. "Anti-immigration party wins Swiss election in 'slide to the Right'". The Daily Telegraph. Reuters. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
8. Mombelli, Armando (December 10, 2015). "People's Party Gains Second Seat in Cabinet". Swissinfo . Retrieved January 27, 2016.
9. Swiss Confederation Archived 2018-10-12 at the Wayback Machine seat allocations are for the 2019 election, but the page also provides the seat changes from the 2015 election
10. Electoral system IPU
11. "Elections 2015:How the elections to the Council of States are organised: process, rules and principal stages". ch.ch – A service of the Confederation, cantons and communes (official site). Berne, Switzerland: The Swiss Confederation. Archived from the original on 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
12. Electoral system IPU
13. Compulsory voting around the world Archived 2015-04-04 at the Wayback Machine . The Electoral Commission
14. "Anti-immigration SVP wins Swiss election in big swing to right". BBC News. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
15. Larson, Nina (19 October 2015). "Swiss parliament shifts to right in vote dominated by migrant fears". Yahoo!. AFP. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
16. "Amid rising fears over refugees, far-right party gains ground in Swiss election". Deutsche Welle. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
17. Revill, John (October 19, 2015). "Swiss Right Makes Gains in Election". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved December 15, 2016.
18. "Nationalratswahlen 2015: Analyse". bfs.admin.ch (in German). December 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
19. "Polizei nimmt 110 Personen auf die Wache" [Police take 110 people to the police station]. Blick (in German). 18 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
20. "Swiss National Elections: 'Return to Normality'?". The Local . October 19, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
21. Stephens, Thomas (October 19, 2016). "Fear and Isolation in a 'Divided Land'". Swissinfo . Retrieved December 13, 2016.
22. Jaberg, Samuel; Stephens, Thomas (October 28, 2015). "Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf to Stand Down". Swissinfo . Retrieved January 28, 2016.
23. "People's Party Posts Candidates for Cabinet Seat". Swissinfo . November 20, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
24. "People's Party Tightens Grip on Second Cabinet Seat". Swissinfo . October 28, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
25. Bradley, Simon (December 10, 2015). "Wary Press Split Over Farmer Parmelin". Swissinfo . Retrieved January 28, 2016.
26. "People's Party finally nails finance minister job". Swissinfo . December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

External links

• Media related to Swiss federal election 2015 at Wikimedia Commons
• "Elections 2015 - In Depth". Swissinfo . Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.