Swiss cast vote in federal elections

GENEVA

Swiss voters on Sunday headed to polls to elect the 200-seat National Council and the 46-seat Council of States.

The voting in the country began on 10:00 a.m. (0800 GMT) and ended by noon.

Most of the 5.5 million eligible voters had cast their vote by mail.

At the start of October, the Swiss Postal Administration delivered envelopes containing ballots to voters and voting by mail continued until Oct. 19.

The number of voter turnout in Switzerland, a country that goes through elections every four years, is expected to remain below 50% as the turnout has been consistently below 50% for almost five decades.

The first unofficial results are expected in the evening.

The latest poll from public broadcaster SRG SSR showed that the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) will consolidate its position as the largest parliamentary group in the elections.

The SVP is expected to win 28.1% of the vote as concerns about immigration dominate the debate and the Credit Suisse fallout affects pro-business politicians.


The center-left Social Democrats are expected to follow the SVP with 18.3% and the Center Alliance at 14.3%, according to the poll. Meanwhile, the Greens are expected to fall below 10%, dropping 3.5% points from the last election and slipping to 9.7% of the total vote, according to a survey of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.

According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the number of lists and candidatures reached record levels in 2023 with 5,909 candidates on 618 lists in the cantons.

Noting that 41% of those candidates are women, FSO said that those under the age of 30 account for almost 30% of candidates.

Following the federal elections, another election will be held to select all seven members of the Federal Council on Dec. 13 for the 2024–2028 term.

The seven members of the Council form the Swiss government. The president is elected for a one-year term and is considered first among equals during that time. Traditionally the position rotates among members based on their seniority.

This system has allowed Switzerland to maintain its coalition government for more than 60 years.