2020 Swiss referendums
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Several federal
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
s were held in Switzerland in 2020, with voting on 9 February, 27 September and 29 November. Voting was also planned for 17 May, but was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.


February referendums

Two referendums were held on 9 February, with voters asked whether they approve of a
popular initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a p ...
to increase
affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on af ...
by promoting housing cooperatives, and an
optional referendum The optional referendum is a referendum which comes from a request by governmental authorities or the public. The best known types of optional referendums is the popular initiative to request a law, and the popular (or abrogative) referendum t ...
on whether legislation preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation should be overturned or retained. The affordable housing initiative – to require 10% of new flats to be owned by housing cooperatives and abolish government subsidies for renovating luxury flats – was put forward by the national alliance of tenants' association and supported by left-leaning parties, and was approved after 106,000 signatures were submitted. The vote on the anti-discrimination in respect of sexual orientation legislation was initiated by the Federal Democratic Union and the youth wing of the Swiss People's Party ( Young SVP) after the legislation was approved in December 2018. A December 2019 opinion poll showed support for the affordable housing at 66% with 30% against, while overturning the anti-discrimination legislation had the support of only 28% of voters, with 69% against.Poll finds tighter anti-homophobia rules have broad support
SwissInfo, 20 December 2019
The affordable housing proposal was rejected by 57% of voters, although more than 60% voted in favour in
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
and
Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
, areas more affected by the lack of affordable housing. The anti-discrimination legislation was approved by 63% of voters, with the strongest support in the
canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...
.


Results


September referendums

Three referendums were initially scheduled for 17 May 2020 but were rescheduled (by a decision of the Federal Council of 18 March 2020) for 27 September 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. This was the first cancellation of a federal referendum since 1951 when polling was postponed due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. The referendums were: one on the "For moderate
immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
(limitation initiative)" popular initiative; one on a 2019 amendment of the federal Law on Hunting; and one on the 2019 amendment of the
Federal Law Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many po ...
on Federal Direct Tax regarding tax deductions for childcare expenses.


Immigration restriction referendum

The immigration initiative proposed ending the free movement of people into Switzerland with the European Union (EU) that was initially granted under the 1999 Agreement on the Free Movement of People. Under the agreements, citizens of the EU have the right to live and work in Switzerland and citizens of Switzerland have the right to live and work in the EU. The government recognizes professional qualifications, the right to buy property and social insurance benefits. The referendum, which was sponsored by the Swiss People's Party (SVP), requires that the government terminate the agreement within one year of passage. It would also bar the government from concluding any agreements that would grant the free movement of people to foreign nationals. Between 1990 and 2020, the population of Switzerland increased from 6.6 million to 8.6 million. Of the total population, 25% are non-Swiss, with most of those being primarily from the EU. This is the second major anti-immigration initiative supported by the SVP in the last decade. The 2014 Swiss immigration initiative passed with a narrow majority of 50.33%; however protracted negotiations with the EU resulted in a 2016 compromise agreement that the SVP criticized as weak. The SVP has argued that the free movement hurts older Swiss workers, who would lose their jobs to young immigrants from the EU. Opponents have argued that, because of guillotine clauses in the bilateral agreements with the EU, this would terminate the Bilateral I agreements with the EU which include provisions on the reduction of trade barriers as well as barriers in agriculture, land transport and civil aviation. Germany is Switzerland's largest market with more cross-border trade amounting to more than Switzerland's trade with China and the United States combined. Most major parties in Switzerland oppose the initiative. The referendum failed to pass.


Federal tax allowance for children referendum

The referendum on the federal tax allowance for children was supported by the Social Democratic Party. In 2019, the Parliament approved a law to increase the income allowance for children from 6,500 to 10,000 CHF. The benefits would flow to those that pay the federal direct tax, which would include approximately 60% of families, primarily with taxable income above 100,000 CHF; the Social Democratic Party opposed the changes, charging that they would benefit wealthier families and sought the refendum to block the implementation. The think tank Avenir Suisse estimated that the increase in the child allowance, if passed, would cost 370 million CHF in lost revenue.


Hunting law referendum

The hunting law referendum asked voters whether legal changes making it easier to kill wolves should be blocked. The changes were approved by the Federal Council and the parliament. After the reintroduction of wolves to Switzerland, packs have increased and 300 to 500 farm animals are killed by wolves each year. Prior to the change, the hunting law allowed killing wolves only if they have killed more than 25 goats or sheep within one month. The changes in the law would allow preemptive hunting of wolves if they are too close to herds or villages. It would also limit compensation to farmers that do not protect their herds with dogs or fences. Opponents argued that killing of wolves could increase attacks on livestock as it would disintegrate packs and force young wolves to hunt for easy prey rather than big game. The Green Party and the Social Democratic Party joined with animal conservation groups to oppose implementation of the new law. They submitted 65,000 valid signatures to place the measure on the ballot.


Fighter jet purchase referendum

The referendum to block the purchase of new fighter aircraft to replace the Swiss military's existing fleet of F-5s and
F/A-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part ...
s was supported by the Group for a Switzerland Without an Army, the Social Democratic Party and the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
. The Federal Council and the Parliament had approved the purchase at a cost of 6 billion CHF.
Viola Amherd Viola Patricia Amherd (born 7 June 1962) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019. She is the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport. Amherd was a member of the Chri ...
, the head of the Defence Department, supported the purchase because the existing F-5s are more than 40 years old and fly only in good weather and the useful life of the F-18 will end in 2030. The opponents have branded the purchase as wasteful and argued that air police services could be conducted with lower-cost light fighters. Opponents of the acquisition submitted more than 65,000 valid signatures to place the referendum on the ballot. The government will require that Swiss firms receive contracts amounting to 60% of the purchase price. Should the referendum pass, the government would be authorized to purchase the fighters with options being the Lockheed Martin F-35, the
Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more ad ...
, the
Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...
and the
Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...
.


Paternity leave referendum

A referendum to block a new paternity-leave law was supported by elements of the SVP. In 2019, the Parliament passed a law giving fathers two weeks of leave at 80% of gross income after the birth of a child. The leave will be paid by the Federal Social Insurance office and will be funded by contributions from both workers and employees at an estimated cost of 230 million CHF annually. Switzerland had been the only country in
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
without paternity leave. Susanne Brunner and Diana Gutjahr of the SVP advocated for the referendum and worked to collect the necessary 50,000 signatures to oppose what they consider to be additional interference in the labor market and a burden on employers from additional costs and taxes. The Social Democrats, Greens, the
Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
, the Green Liberals and the Conservative Democratic Party all supported paternity leave; the national SVP opposed paternity leave, although some sections of the party supported it. FDP.The Liberals supported paternity leave in parliament but did not endorse a side in the referendum.


Results


November referendums

Two referendums were scheduled for 29 November, both of which were popular initiatives: " Responsible companies – to protect human beings and the environment" and "For a ban on financing producers of war material". The "Responsible Companies" initiative failed despite receiving a majority of the popular vote due to its rejection by a majority of the cantons. The initiative to ban the funding of weapons makers also failed.


Results


References

{{Swiss elections
Referendums A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
Switzerland Swiss referendums Swiss referendums Swiss referendums Referendums in Switzerland Swiss referendums 2020 Hunting referendums