GENEVA
Switzerland is set to hold federal elections on Sunday to elect the 200-seat National Council and the 46-seat Council of States.
Many of 5.5 million eligible voters have already cast their vote as 90% of the people prefer to vote by mail rather than in person.
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.
SVP likely to consolidate its position
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 is 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 has 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.
– Swiss people don’t expect ‘any change’ after elections
Speaking to Anadolu ahead of the elections, Niels Ackermann, a photojournalist, said that Switzerland has had the same government for a long time and said that chances that these elections will be changing the composition of the Federal Council are “super low.”
“There can be little changes but Switzerland is a really country of stability,” Ackermann said. “These elections are not going to change my life but they are going to influence it very slightly, very slowly in one direction or another.”
Regarding the low voter turnout, he said: “I think Swiss people vote when they are concerned.”
Sean, who preferred to only provide his first name, said: “I haven’t followed politics or the election too much, because personally, I trust this country.”
The 20-year-old university student said that he would not cast a vote during the elections.
Sean added that like him, many young nationals lack interest in elections as they are “not too scared for their own personal life.”
Snoia, a lawyer who also did not want to share her last name, told Anadolu that she does not expect the election results to “change much.”
Noting that she followed the election process closely, she said that low interest in elections may be explained by the fact that people are not expecting any change out of it.
“Or maybe it’s because in Switzerland we vote for a lot,” she said. “The democracy is very developed (here) and we are lucky, but sometimes people don’t want to participate.”
She underlined that Switzerland has a democratic system where all the parties are represented.
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.
