Federal elections 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 ...

on 18 October 2015 for the National Council and the first round of elections to the Council of States, with runoff elections to the Council of States being held in various cantons until 22 November. Results showed a shift, due to voter concerns regarding refugee immigration, to the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

and increased support for the three largest parties, with the strong showing of

Swiss People's Party The Swiss People's Party (, SVP; , PPS), also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre (, UDC; , UDC), is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marcel Dettling, it is the largest party in ...

and FDP.The Liberals possibly affecting future reforms of energy, social security and tax issues, as well as the make-up of the seven-member government. The Swiss People's Party won a record number of seats, taking a third of the 200-seat lower house. The SVP received the highest proportion of votes of any Swiss political party since 1919, when

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

was first introduced, and it received more seats in the National Council than any other political party since 1963, when the number of seats was set at 200. The federal election was followed by the 2015 Swiss Federal Council election on 9 December 2015, where the SVP won a second seat on the Federal Council.

Electoral system

The 200 members of the National Council were elected by plurality in six single-member constituencies, and by

in 20 multi-member constituencies, with the 26 constituencies being the 26 cantons. The elections were held using the

open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a Political party, party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, in which party lists ...

system where voters could cross out names on party lists, with voters also able to split their vote between parties (a system known as panachage) or draw up their own list on a blank ballot. Seats are allocated using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system.Electoral system
IPU The 46 members of the Council of States were elected in 20 two-seat constituencies (representing the 20 full cantons) and six single-member constituencies (representing the six half-cantons). In Jura and

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

the elections were held using proportional representation. In the other cantons, councilors are elected through an up to

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

of voting. In the first round of voting, candidates must obtain an absolute majority of the vote in order to be elected. If no candidate receives an absolute majority in the first round of voting then a second round is held in which a simple plurality is sufficient to be elected. The top two finishing candidates are elected in the second round.Electoral system
IPU

Compulsory voting Compulsory voting, also called universal civic duty voting or mandatory voting, is the requirement that registered voters participate in an election. As of January 2023, 21 countries have compulsory voting laws. Law enforcement in those countries ...

was in force in the canton of

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

for both elections.

Campaign

The parties contesting the elections were:

Opinion polls

Results

Global media commented on the gains of the Swiss People's Party, linking it to concerns of the electorate on the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...

. Combined, right-of-centre parties received a slim 101-seat majority in the National Council. While the right-of-centre SVP and FDP made gains, centrist and left-of-centre parties lost seats in the National Council. The FDP increased its share of the popular vote for the first time since the 1979 federal election. In the Swiss capital

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, a group of activists in favour of settling refugees held a demonstration on the day of the election, which is prohibited by law. A total of 110 were arrested. The election results elicited various responses from the Swiss media, such as that the election represented "a return to normality" after a period when the legislative makeup was not as clear, or that it represented "a divided country." Newspapers, both in Switzerland and in other countries, also noted the SVP's historic gains.

National Council

Council of States

By canton

Aftermath

The 2015 federal election was followed by the 2015 Swiss Federal Council election on 9 December 2015. Owing to the results of the federal election, Federal Councillor Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, a member of the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP), announced she would not run for re-election, as the

(SVP) won a record percentage of the vote, while her own party decreased its share. The SVP was widely expected to fill her seat in the election, and it chose Thomas Aeschi (

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

), Guy Parmelin (

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

) and Norman Gobbi (

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

) as candidates for the seat, with Aeschi being the favorite at the time. Guy Parmelin, of the SVP, was ultimately elected on 9 December. Parmelin, a farmer and winegrower from Bursins in canton

, was the first member of the Federal Council who is also a member of the

from the French-speaking part of Switzerland. There was a minor cabinet reshuffle after the election, as newly elected Parmelin was selected to become head of the

Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS, , , , ) is one of the seven Ministry (government department), departments of the Switzerland, Swiss federal government. It is headed by a member of the Federal Council (Switze ...

, replacing fellow SVP-member

Ueli Maurer Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer (; born 1 December 1950) is a Swiss politician who served as a List of members of the Swiss Federal Council, Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2022. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was Pres ...

, who became head of the Federal Department of Finance. The SVP gained its second seat in the Federal Council, which it had lost in 2008, when the newly created BDP split from the SVP.

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland Federal elections in Switzerland Federal Federal