Your Vote is Your Yodel(A Swiss Election Thread)

[Shrillland]

Yet another Autumn election coming up in Europe besides Poland...and Spain(most likely)...and Portugal...and Austria...this time, we head to the Eternal Neutrals, Switzerland. Here, things are relatively quiet, as the Swiss are apt to be, but their elections, coming up on October 19-20, do give us an example of how the country's faring. This is going to be another long OP since Switzerland is so special in electoral terms.

The National Council has 200 seats up for grabs in 26 constituencies that make up the 20 cantons and 6 half-cantons(Although Switzerland officially considers them full cantons, they're still governed in the old half manner). The Swiss system is...pretty unique, so bear with me. The full cantons have free open list(or panachage)PR with Hagenbach-Bischoff counts and no threshold. People are allowed as many votes as there are open seats, so if, for example, their canton has 10 seats, like Lucerne does, voters get to vote for up to 10 candidates. They can even use their votes to cross out people on the list, add write-ins, or even vote multiple times(twice is the legal maximum) for an individual candidate. The half cantons have a single seat decided by FPTP. All the legislators are "citizen legislators" like what you may see in many US states, where legislating is a part-time job and you're expected to have a job back home.

The Council of States is up for grabs as well. Unlike the National Council, the cantons get to set the electoral rules, so you end up with a patchwork system. There are 46 seats, full cantons get two members while half cantons get one. 24 cantons use FPTP with the top two winning the seats while Jura and Neuchatel use PR. Some cantons have lower voting ages, two actually allow qualified non-citizens to vote, and one canton, Appenzell Innerrhoden, already elected its members to the Council of States back in April in their traditional annual landsgemiende(a public vote where everyone shows up in town square and votes by a show of hands).

As for who'll lead after the vote....well, Switzerland has a disdainful attitude towards supreme executive power. To that end, there is no single head of state or government. Instead, there is a seven-member Federal Council chosen by the assembly after the general election, and they invariably follow what's known as the Zauberformel or "Magic Formula", where the council's makeup is more or less based on the legislature's semi-permanent alignments, which is currently: 2 from SVP, 2 from SP, 2 from FDP, 1 from CVP. Bear in mind, the formula can change if trends have changed. And trends to seem to be changing with the increasingly powerful Green Party.

Now to meet the parties themselves(all leaders are leaders in the National Council, not necessarily those on the Federal Council):

Swiss People's Party or Union of the Democratic Centre(SVP/UDC) led by Albert Rosti: Right to Far-Right, Swiss Nationalist, Social And National Conservative, Right Populist, Agrarian, Anti-Immigration, Eurosceptic

Social Democratic Party or Swiss Socialist Party(SP/PS) led by Christian Levrat: Centre-left to Left, Democratic Socialist, Pro-European, Anti-Capitalist

FDP. The Liberals(FDP/PLR/PLD) led by Petra Gössi: Centre-Right to Right, Conservative Liberal, Classical Liberal

Christian Democratic People's Party(CVP/PDC/PPD/PCD) led by Gerhard Pfister: Centre to Centre-RIght, Christian Democratic, Social Conservative

Green Party(GPS/PES) led by Regula Rytz: Left Wing, Green Policy, Progressive, Pro-European

Green Liberal Party(glp/pvl) led by Jürg Grossen: Centrist, Green Liberal, Economic and Social Liberal, Pro-European

Conservative Democratic Party(BDP/PBD) led by Martin Landolt: Centre to Centre-Right, Conservative

Evangelical People's Party(EVP/PEV): Centre to Centre-Left, Christian Democratic, Social Conservative, Stewardship Protestant

So, who do you support amongst this massive mess? For me, it's, as you'd probably expect by now, the Greens. They're doing well enough that if they continue rising, they could take the CVP's seat on the Federal Council if the demand's there.

EDIT: Here's an election compass from SRF if you want to see where you fall: https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/wahlen-2019/wahlempfehlung-finden-sie-per-mausklick-ihre-wunschkandidaten-2

You can also see how well you, as an individual, are represented in the Federal Assembly: https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/wahlen-2019/wahlen-2019-wie-das-parlament-die-waehler-abbildet-und-wie-nicht

[Kowani]

…Who designed this voting system?

[Shrillland]

…Who designed this voting system?

Well, when modern Switzerland was established in 1848, the founders decided to merge American Federalist ideals with traditional Swiss attitudes that favour de-centralisation. So the National Council was the People's House while the Council of States was the Cantons' House. The Federal Council was made a multi-executive body because the framers didn't like the idea of a single executive directing everything. Plus, they wanted Catholics and Protestants to have equal representation in the executive sphere. For the Council of States, they basically let the cantons do whatever they wanted with regards to how and who went to the upper house. As for the National Council, the current PR system was chosen in a national plebiscite in 1918, and I admit I made a mistake when I talked about multiple voting, you can only vote for an individual on any given list as much as twice.

[Forumland]

finally we have a thread for the world’s only democratically elected totalitarian state.

For me, it's, as you'd probably expect by now, the Greens. They're doing well enough that if they continue rising, they could take the CVP's seat on the Federal Council if the demand's there.

I highly doubt that either the SVP or the FDP would allow the Greens to enter the Council.

[Shrillland]

finally we have a thread for the world’s only democratically elected totalitarian state.

For me, it's, as you'd probably expect by now, the Greens. They're doing well enough that if they continue rising, they could take the CVP's seat on the Federal Council if the demand's there.

I highly doubt that either the SVP or the FDP would allow the Greens to enter the Council.

They're odd in Switzerland, they firmly believe in consensus government to an extent that's just unreal in a lot of other nations' eyes. If the Greens continue rising in '23, there may have to be a change in the Zauberformel(they've done it before), and the CVP's the most at-risk of losing a seat.

[Forumland]

the SVP was denied in 1999 even though they were first and the 2003 vote for their second seat was pretty narrow. and that wasn’t even against a leftist party, so i’m not really convinced that the Greens would get a seat this year, or even in 2023

[Shrillland]

the SVP was denied in 1999 even though they were first and the 2003 vote for their second seat was pretty narrow. and that wasn’t even against a leftist party, so i’m not really convinced that the Greens would get a seat this year, or even in 2023

The modern formula was only developed in 2003 after the SVP became so prominent in the 90s. Before then, SVP only had one seat and CVP had two. As the people's alignments changed, so did the formula.

[Forumland]

the SVP was denied in 1999 even though they were first and the 2003 vote for their second seat was pretty narrow. and that wasn’t even against a leftist party, so i’m not really convinced that the Greens would get a seat this year, or even in 2023

The modern formula was only developed in 2003 after the SVP became so prominent in the 90s. Before then, SVP only had one seat and CVP had two. As the people's alignments changed, so did the formula.

apparently 116 members of the United Federal Assembly forgot about this magic formula based on the will of the people when the SVP was about to gain a second seat, so it’s reasonable to assume that the ideological right would oppose a Green bid.

[Nakena]

…Who designed this voting system?

The same people who mandated that every able bodied Switzerlander who did his service is member of the militia and keeps it's SIG 550 Assault Rifle and a box of sealed ammunition at anytime at home or within reach, so they can be called up upon mobilization.

However the sealed ammo boxes are no longer given out as of recently. Pretty rad eh?

[Kowani]

…Who designed this voting system?

The same people who mandated that every able bodied Switzerlander who did his service is member of the militia and keeps it's SIG 550 Assault Rifle and a box of sealed ammunition at anytime at home or within reach, so they can be called up upon an attack.

However the sealed ammo boxes are no longer given out as of recently. Pretty rad eh?

Oh, there you are!

[Nakena]

The same people who mandated that every able bodied Switzerlander who did his service is member of the militia and keeps it's SIG 550 Assault Rifle and a box of sealed ammunition at anytime at home or within reach, so they can be called up upon an attack.

However the sealed ammo boxes are no longer given out as of recently. Pretty rad eh?

Oh, there you are!

Yes, always when you least expect me. I think though the Switzerland system is pretty cool.

[Kowani]

Oh, there you are!

Yes, always when you least expect me. I think though the Switzerland system is pretty cool.

The voting system or the militia?

[Nakena]

Yes, always when you least expect me. I think though the Switzerland system is pretty cool.

The voting system or the militia?

Both. Though as said they no longer hand out ammo boxes.

[Kowani]

The voting system or the militia?

Both. Though as said they no longer hand out ammo boxes.

Yeah, I can see why you’d like that.

[Nakena]

Both. Though as said they no longer hand out ammo boxes.

Yeah, I can see why you’d like that.

I find it more interesting in context of the 2nd amendment though.

[Kowani]

Yeah, I can see why you’d like that.

I find it more interesting in context of the 2nd amendment though.

Elaborate, please.

[New haven america]

…Who designed this voting system?

Switzerland.

[Nakena]

I find it more interesting in context of the 2nd amendment though.

Elaborate, please.

Because Switzerland has an actual citizen militia without all that mess unlike you know...

[Jack Thomas Lang]

The CVP sound nice, Christian and Social Democrats? Count me in.

[Kowani]

Elaborate, please.

Because Switzerland has an actual citizen militia without all that mess unlike you know...

Switzerland avoids a lot of the other structural problems in the US, though.

[Shrillland]

Because Switzerland has an actual citizen militia without all that mess unlike you know...

Switzerland avoids a lot of the other structural problems in the US, though.

Well, they insist on harmony and consensus. Try to picture this kind of government in the US...you can't, can you?

[Chernoslavia]

Because Switzerland has an actual citizen militia without all that mess unlike you know...

Switzerland avoids a lot of the other structural problems in the US, though.

That's more because of our laws.

[Cekoviu]

Green Liberals sound pretty cool to me.

[Blargoblarg]

I'm hoping the Socialists and the Greens do well in this election.

[Shrillland]

I'm hoping the Socialists and the Greens do well in this election.

No recent polling, but everything has the SP coming in second as they usually do, and the Greens are averaging 11% with the Green Liberals averaging 6.5%. So they should do fairly well.