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REFERENDUMS IN SWITZERLAND

Swiss citizens in Vaud set to have their say on foreigners’ rights to vote

Swiss nationals in the canton of Vaud are likely to be given the chance to vote in a referendum on cantonal voting rights for foreigners.

Published: 10 August 2023 13:17 CEST
A woman inserts her postal voting envelope into the door of the polling station in Lausanne on September 29th, 2019.
A woman inserts her postal voting envelope into the door of the polling station in Lausanne on September 29th, 2019. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

The campaign group AG!SSONS (‘Take Action’ in English) said it had collected enough signatures needed for its initiative to be brought to the ballot box in a referendum. 

Under the banner “political rights for those who live here”, the group calls for the right to vote and run for elections at the cantonal level to be granted to all foreigners who have been living at least 10 years in Switzerland. Further requirements are that the foreign nationals have clocked up three consecutive years of residence in Vaud itself, and currently live in the canton.  

Switzerland has a unique system of direct democracy which allows people to have a greater say in the way the country is run. 

Groups are able to put forward initiatives, like this one, which can then go to the ballot box if enough public support is gathered. 

‘Why do non-Swiss residents have no say?’

The initiative says that people who live and work in an area “should be able to get involved in public affairs and participate fully in political life and decision-making”.

The campaign goes on to say that more than a third of the population living in the canton of Vaud do not have Swiss nationality so have limited voting rights.

“Yet these people are active in the social life of the canton; they have jobs, pay taxes and live in the same area, sometimes for decades,” says the initiative. “How are they different from Swiss nationals by birth or naturalisation?

“As a result, elections and votes are not representative of the population of the canton of Vaud, and they are not conducive to broader democracy: this missing third of the population is also affected by political decisions, yet it has no say in them!

“The introduction of political rights for non-Swiss citizens will make up for this lack of representation and inclusiveness.”

READ ALSO: Just how diverse is Switzerland?

A total of 15,667 signatures were gathered, the group said — only 12,000 are required for an initiative to be brought to the ballot box in canton Vaud. 

“It was a huge challenge, because neither the political parties nor the unions wanted to commit to collecting signatures,” Simon Berthoud, campaign manager at AG!SSONS, told Swiss news platform LeTemps. 

Around 70 volunteers took part in the campaigning stage. The signatures are now being checked and validated by local districts. The submission of the initiative to the Chancellery is due to take place on September 1st. 

“With close to 16,000 signatures collected, we are sure the initiative reaches the minimum requirement, i.e. 12,000 valid signatures,” said Berthoud. 

Despite this movement, the outlook for the proposed referendum doesn’t look promising. 

Citizens in Vaud have already voted twice on a similar proposal back in 1992 and 2011, and both times it was rejected.

Eligible foreigners (residing in Vaud for at least three years with a B or C permit) can vote or run for political office at communal level.
 
READ ALSO: Where in Switzerland can foreigners vote?

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REFERENDUMS IN SWITZERLAND

What’s at stake in Switzerland’s ‘physical integrity’ referendum?

On June 9th, Swiss voters will decide on whether the country’s residents should have the right to refuse procedures that would impact their ‘physical integrity.’ What exactly does this mean?

Published: 6 May 2024 16:04 CEST
What's at stake in Switzerland's 'physical integrity' referendum?

Four issues in total will be brought to the ballot box on June 9th.

Among the most controversial topics are the two initiatives seeking to curb the cost of the obligatory health insurance — one by capping the premiums at 10 percent of income, and the other by  providing a ‘brake’ on health costs, which should evolve according to the economy and wages.

READ ALSO: How Switzerland’s two crucial health insurance referendums could impact you 

But there are two other proposals on the agenda as well.

One, titled “For the freedom of physical integrity” was launched by the STOP compulsory vaccination committee of a group called Swiss Freedom Movement.

While it may seem a bit outdated today, this citizen-driven initiative saw the light of day during the Covid pandemic, when the Federal Council had to take some drastic measures — including quarantine and confinement —  to protect the population from the virus and prevent the healthcare system, especially hospitals, from being saturated.

This, along with the vaccines introduced at the end of 2020, prompted the group to start colecting enough signatures to challenge these measures in a referendum.

What exactly is it about?

The initiative demands “protection of the body” against interference by the state.

It specifies that the consent of the person concerned must be obtained for invasive procedures that may affect their “physical or mental integrity”, which basically means any medical interventions, like vaccinations, but in practice it goes much further (read more about this below).

The federal government, cantonal health authorities, and health experts in general, recommend that voters reject this proposal, for several reasons.

One is that physical and mental integrity are already protected under the Constitution, which guarantees the right to ‘self-determination’ in matters of health and life in general.

As for vaccinations, whether against the coronavirus or any other diseases, nobody can be forced to be immunised against their will in Switzerland.

Another argument against the initiative is that, if it is passes, it would hinder measures that the government would have to implement to protect the population in case of another pandemic.

But there would be non-medical consequences as well

Since the initiative doesn’t specifically refer to medical interventions but covers generally any actions by the federal government, cantons and communes that involve physical contact, it implies that police would no longer be able to arrest a suspect without his or her authorisation — as such actions would involve physical contact that could impact a person’s mental state.

According to the government, the initiative focuses on individual rights and ignores the overriding public interest.

The initiative therefore goes well beyond vaccination and other health matters, it said.

The fourth issue: electricity supply

Supplying Switzerland with sufficient energy has become a challenge due to International conflicts and the restructuring of the European power grid.

Therefore, a new law sets the ground for Switzerland to rapidly produce more electricity from renewable energy sources such as water, sun, wind, and biomass. 

Opponents, however, say that the legislation will be detrimental to environmental causes like the protection of nature, and urge the ‘no’ vote.

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