Eight referendums were held in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

during 2002. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1943 The first two were held on 3 March on

popular initiatives A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put directly to a plebiscite o ...

for Switzerland to join the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and to reduce working hours. UN membership was approved, whilst the shorter working hours proposal was rejected. The next two were held on 2 June on amending the

penal code A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain Crime, offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that ...

regarding abortion, which was approved, and a

popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put directly to a plebiscite o ...

"for mother and child", which was rejected. The next set referendums was held on 22 September, with a

on adding surplus gold reserves to the country's pension fund and a counter-proposal, as well as a federal law on the

electricity market An electricity market is a system that enables the exchange of electrical energy, through an electrical grid. Historically, electricity has been primarily sold by companies that operate electric generators, and purchased by consumers or electr ...

. All three were rejected. The final two referendums were held on 24 November on a

"against misuse of asylum rights" and a federal law on compulsory unemployment insurance and compensation for insolvencies. The asylum proposal was rejected, whilst the federal law was approved.

Results

In the referendum with the counter-proposal voters could also give no answer. For the main question 53,237 voters (2.5%) did not answer, whilst for the counter-proposal 80,432 (3.8%) did not answer.Switzerland, 22 September 2002: Surplus gold reserves into the AHV Funds (Gold Initiative) with counter-proposal
Direct Democracy

References

{{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland Abortion in Switzerland

Referendums A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...

Swiss referendums

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Abortion debate Enlargement of the United Nations Pension referendums Switzerland and the United Nations Abortion referendums