2015 Swiss referendums

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Six national referendums were held in Switzerland during 2015, the first of which were held on 8 March. [1]

Contents

March referendums

Two referendums were held on 8 March. [2] The family initiative proposal proposed that child and education allowances should be exempt from income tax, [2] whilst second initiative called for the introduction of a tax on non-renewable energy, [2] with the higher cost of energy consumption compensated by the abolition of VAT. [2] The family initiative was initiated by the Christian Democratic People's Party and the energy initiative was initiated by the Green Liberal Party. [3] The Swiss government recommended the rejection of both initiatives, [2] and both were rejected by voters.

The failed energy initiative received worst vote result for an initiative since 1929. [3]

Results

QuestionForAgainstInvalid/
blank
Total
votes
Registered
voters
TurnoutCantons forCantons againstResult
Votes%Votes%FullHalfFullHalf
Family initiative537,79524.61,650,10975.422,9872,210,8915,254,96542.0700206Rejected
Non-renewable energy tax175,4058.02,010,32692.024,3902,210,12141.0600206Rejected
Source: Government of Switzerland

June referendums

Four referendums were held on 14 June 2015, covering a constitutional amendment regarding reproductive medicine and human gene technology, popular initiatives on scholarships and inheritance tax and a modification of the federal law on radio and television reducing the annual licence fee from 462 to 400 Francs. [4]

Results

QuestionForAgainstInvalid/
blank
Total
votes
Registered
voters
TurnoutCantons forCantons againstResult
Votes%Votes%FullHalfFullHalf
Reproductive medicine/gene technology1,377,61361.9846,86538.166,5152,290,9935,265,12043.517333Accepted
Scholarships610,28427.51,611,91172.565,3602,287,55543.400206Rejected
Inheritance tax657,85129.01,613,98271.029,4872,301,32043.700206Rejected
Federal law on radio and television1,128,52250.11,124,87349.944,5682,297,96343.6Accepted
Source: Government of Switzerland 1, 2, 3, 4

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References

  1. Electronic voting: Greater security thanks to verifiability Revue, 10 February 2014
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Referendums on March 8, 2015 Archived September 23, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Swiss Federal Chancellery
  3. 1 2 Chandrasekhar, Anand (March 9, 2015) - "Centrist Parties Lack ‘Initiative Savviness’". Swissinfo . Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  4. Referendums on June 14, 2015 Archived March 31, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Swiss Federal Chancellery(in German)