Swiss vote regularly on a wide range of proposals and government decisions. Since 1848, in addition to general elections, Swiss voters have been called to vote on 677 referenda and initiatives. 48% percent of these votes were accepted. Between 1848 and 1900 there was roughly one of these votes a year. Since 1991, there have been close to 10 a year.
Broadly, outside of general elections, there are three kinds of votes in Switzerland: mandatory referenda, optional referenda and popular initiatives.
A mandatory referendum is typically required when parliament wishes to modify the constitution. To be accepted these votes must achieve a double majority. A double majority is achieved when a majority of voters across the country vote in favour of the referendum and it achieves a majority in a majority of cantons. Since 1848 there have been 242 such votes and 73% of them have been accepted.
An optional referendum takes place in response to a law passed by parliament. Mostly, laws modified by parliament are automatically introduced. However, votes can be called to prevent their introduction. Such votes, which can be initiated upon collection of 50,000 signatures within 100 days, are known as optional referenda. To be accepted these votes require a popular majority only. Since 1848 there have been 215 of these and 58% of them have been accepted.
The third type of vote, a popular initiative, begins outside of government. Political parties are typically heavily involved, however these votes are not initiated by parliament or the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house. Aimed at changing the constitution, popular initiatives require 100,000 signatures to be collected within 18 months. Since 1848 there have been 236 such votes, but only 11% of them have been accepted.
In response to popular initiatives, parliament and the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, can present a counter-proposal. These can be direct or indirect.
A direct counter-proposal is an alternative to the initiative. If the organisers of the initiative accept the counter-proposal, then the electorate votes on the whether to accept the counter proposal. If the initiative is not withdrawn then voters are presented with both the initiative and the counter-proposal. This means voters cast a yes/no vote and choose between the initiative and the counter-proposal should the vote be accepted.
Indirect counter-proposals are proposals made by parliament to modify laws as an alternative to the constitutional amendments demanded by an initiative. These come into force if the initiative is withdrawn by organisers or rejected by voters and no one launches a successful referendum against the counter-proposal. Initiative organisers can conditionally accept indirect counter-proposals. This means the initiative is presented to voters if the counter-proposal is rejected in a referendum.
These three types of votes can be called at federal, cantonal and municipal levels. So in addition to an average of 10 federal votes a year, voters can be presented with referenda and initiatives at cantonal and municipal levels. Fortunately the process is automated and simple. Voting forms automatically appear in mailboxes well ahead of polling day and the forms are simple to fill out and post.
Voter participation rates typically hover between 40% of 50%. The highest participation rate since women’s suffrage was introduced at a federal level in 1971 is 78.7% when Swiss were asked in 1992 whether Switzerland should join the EU. 50.3% voted not to join. This vote divided the nation. Large majorities in French-speaking Switzerland voted to join while the idea was roundly rejected in most of German-speaking Switzerland. Basel-City and Basel-Landschaft were the only two German-speaking cantons with majorities in favour – see detailed data here. Interestingly, while the popular vote was close (50.3% no; 49.7% yes), the decision was decisive at the double-majority-cantonal level. 18 cantons were against it and only 8 were in favour.
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