Switzerland

General Information:

On October 22, 2023, elections were held for both the Council of States and the National Council. The electoral results were as follows:

Election Results:

National Council:
Swiss People’s Party: 713,471 votes, 27.93%, 62 seats
Social Democratic Party: 466,714 votes, 18.27%, 41 seats
The Liberals (FDP): 364,053 votes, 14.25%, 28 seats
The Centre: 359,075 votes, 14.06%, 29 seats
Green Party: 249,891 votes, 9.78%, 23 seats
Green Liberal Party: 192,944 votes, 7.55%, 10 seats
Evangelical People’s Party: 49,828 votes, 1.95%, 2 seats
Federal Democratic Union: 31,513 votes, 1.23%, 2 seats
Ticino League: 14,160 votes, 0.55%, 1 seat
Geneva Citizens’ Movement: 13,019 votes, 0.51%, 2 seats

Council of States:
The Centre: 15 seats
The Liberals: 11 seats
Social Democratic Party: 9 seats
Swiss People’s Party: 6 seats
Green Party: 3 seats
Geneva Citizens’ Movement: 1 seat
Green Liberal Party: 1 seat

Source: Federal Statistical Office

Description of Electoral System:

The 200 members of the National Council are elected from Switzerland's 26 cantons, each serving as an electoral district.

In multi-member cantons, proportional representation with open lists is used, including alliances between parties and sub-alliances within party lists. Linked lists are initially counted together for seat allocation.

Seats are distributed using the Hagenbach-Bischoff method, with no formal electoral threshold.

Voters can strike names from party lists, duplicate names, split their vote across parties (panachage), or create a personal list using a blank ballot.

Six single-member cantons use majority voting.

Seat allocation in the National Council is based on cantonal population size (including children and non-citizen residents).

Based on 2020 population data, Basel-Stadt lost one seat while Zurich gained one, becoming the canton with the most seats.

All Swiss citizens aged 18+ may vote or run for office. Citizens abroad may vote in their last canton of residence or their canton of origin.

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