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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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HEALTH INSURANCE

What costs could Swiss residents face if health insurance votes don’t pass?

On June 9th, Swiss voters will weigh in on two proposals intended to curb the cost of the health insurance. What could happen if they are rejected?

Published: 21 May 2024 12:41 CEST
What costs could Swiss residents face if health insurance votes don't pass?

Both citizen-driven initiatives aim to cut the costs of the obligatory health insurance (KVG / LaMal), which have been climbing for years.

The first proposal calls for capping the insurance rates at 10 percent of income, with the excess be paid for by the federal and cantonal governments.

The second, on the same ballot, provides for a ‘brake’ on health costs, which should evolve according to the economy and wages.

This brake would work in the same way as the federal spending brake. Therefore, when healthcare costs exceed wages for a given year by 20 percent, the government must take action to bring the  costs down.

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

What could happen if the proposals fail to gain the majority of votes?

The Swiss Trade Union (USS) estimates that if the two initiatives are rejected by voters, a family of four would have to pay 27 percent more for their health insurance by the year 2030.

These calculations are based on official government figures, the USS said.

A premium for a single adult would also increase — from 430 to 540 francs a month on average — and would likely be even higher in certain cantons, because how much of your income is spent on health insurance is determined by your place of residence. 

For instance, based on figures from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and research carried out  by Ecoplan independent political and economic consultancy, a family with two young, pre-school-age children and a net income of 97,992 francs a year, will spend the biggest chunk of their income (16.5 percent) on health insurance in Basel-City.

Next are Neuchâtel (14.9 percent) and Bern (13.2 percent).

On the other hand, in Zurich, Switzerland’s (and the world’s) most expensive city, that proportion is 12.2 percent — still high, but lower than in a number of other cantons.

As a comparison, that rate in the canton of Graubünden is only 6 percent.

READ ALSO: In which Swiss cantons is most income spent on health insurance? 

But even despite the risk of much-higher premiums in the future, the Federal Council and the parliament are urging voters to reject both proposals, arguing they will not sustainably solve the soaring costs of healthcare.

Instead, they have concocted their own ‘counter-initiative’ to the two proposals that they want voters to approve.

They include having cantons increase the amount of financial help they pay toward health premiums for low-income people, and providing for more targeted measures, including specific cost control objectives for healthcare services. 

Are the two proposals more likely to be approved or turned down?

In April, GFS research institute found that 60 percent of respondents in its survey approved the initiative to cap premiums at 10 percent of income, while 36 percent were against it. The rest was undecided.

However in a more recent poll, carried out at the beginning of May by Sotomo institute, the ‘yes’ camp was smaller: 56 percent of voters were in favour of the initiative and 40 percent were against.

Here too, 4 percent were undecided.

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