Switzerland
Parliamentary Elections
Electoral system
- Bicameral parliament
- Chamber name: National Council (Nationalrat/Conseil national/Consiglio nazionale)
- Members (lower house): 200
- Term: 4 years
- Constituencies: 26 multi- or single-member constituencies corresponding to the country's 20 cantons and 6 half-cantons. The number of seats per constituency varies according to population.
- Voting system: Mixed system. Proportional representation using the Hagenbach-Bischoff method, with remaining seats being distributed according to the rule of highest average, in multi-member constituencies. Each elector can vote for a list as it stands or modify it by crossing out or repeating names appearing on it; he can moreover split his vote between different lists ("panachage") or select names from different lists in forming his own on a blank ballot paper. Single majority system for 5 single-member constituencies (two cantons, three half-cantons).
- Voter requirements: 18 years of age; Swiss citizenship.
- Voting is compulsory in a small number of cantons, where those abstaining without a justifiable reason are subject to a small fine.
Latest elections
Election results 1991-2012, main parties
Sources
Dardanelli, P. 2008. The Swiss federal elections of 2007. Electoral Studies, Vol. 27(4), 748-751.
Milic, T. 2008. Switzerland. European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 47(7-8), 1148-1155.
Inter-Parliamentary Union, PARLINE database on national parliaments
Swiss Statistics: http://www.bfs.admin.ch/
