Federal popular initiative "For marriage and family - against the marriage penalty"
The federal popular initiative “For marriage and family - against the marriage penalty” is a popular initiative of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP), which was voted on on February 28, 2016. The initiative aimed at eliminating tax disadvantages known as the “ marriage penalty ” that married couples have to endure under certain circumstances. It failed because of the majority of the people , although it achieved the majority of the estates .
In April 2019, the vote was canceled by the Federal Court in a historic decision due to incorrect information from the Federal Council . Finally, in January 2020, the CVP announced that it would not put the initiative to the vote again and instead would launch a new initiative.
initiative
submission
The initiative was submitted on November 5, 2012 with 120,161 valid signatures.
content
The popular initiative called for the existing discrimination against married couples compared to cohabiting couples to be eliminated.
text
The Federal Constitution is amended as follows:
Art. 14, Paragraph 2 (new)
2 Marriage is the permanent and legally regulated cohabitation of a man and a woman. In terms of taxation, it forms an economic community. It must not be placed at a disadvantage compared to other forms of life, in particular not with regard to taxes and social security.
Referendum
The Swiss voters voted on the initiative on February 28, 2016. The Federal Council and the Federal Assembly recommended the people and the cantons to reject the initiative. Critics had complained that the initiators were concerned not only with the abolition of the so-called “ marriage penalty ”, but also with the manifestation of a “backward definition of marriage”, same-sex relationships, by placing a definition of marriage as a connection between man and woman would discriminate, which is why campaigns focused on this aspect. The initiative achieved the majority of the cantons, but narrowly failed because of the majority of the people.
Canton |
Yes (%) |
No (%) |
Participation (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Aargau | 52.8 | 47.2 | 64.3 |
Appenzell Ausserrhoden | 49.5 | 50.5 | 66.6 |
Appenzell Innerrhoden | 55.6 | 44.4 | 59.6 |
Basel-Country | 49.4 | 50.6 | 63.4 |
Basel city | 39.5 | 60.5 | 66.6 |
Bern | 46.2 | 53.8 | 61.0 |
Freiburg | 53.6 | 46.4 | 63.6 |
Geneva | 46.7 | 53.3 | 55.4 |
Glarus | 51.7 | 48.3 | 57.9 |
Grisons | 49.4 | 50.6 | 61.0 |
law | 60.1 | 39.9 | 55.3 |
Lucerne | 50.8 | 49.2 | 68.0 |
Neuchâtel | 51.9 | 48.1 | 57.6 |
Nidwalden | 54.6 | 45.4 | 73.6 |
Obwalden | 54.7 | 45.3 | 72.5 |
Schaffhausen | 51.3 | 48.7 | 75.8 |
Schwyz | 54.5 | 45.5 | 68.9 |
Solothurn | 51.7 | 48.3 | 64.1 |
St. Gallen | 53.0 | 47.0 | 62.5 |
Ticino | 54.7 | 45.3 | 68.0 |
Thurgau | 54.0 | 46.0 | 59.7 |
Uri | 50.9 | 49.1 | 73.3 |
Vaud | 45.7 | 54.3 | 58.4 |
Valais | 57.0 | 43.0 | 63.3 |
train | 51.6 | 48.4 | 69.9 |
Zurich | 43.5 | 56.5 | 65.6 |
Swiss Confederation | 49.2 | 50.8 | 61.8 |
Revocation of the vote by the federal court
In June 2018 it became known that the Federal Council used incorrect numbers in the voting book of the time. It was spoken of 80,000 instead of around 454,000 affected double-income couples. As a result, on June 18, 2018, the CVP filed a complaint against the popular initiative in several cantons. After being rejected by the cantonal governments, the party turned to the federal court. This decided on April 10, 2019 that the vote should be canceled. Three of the five judges considered freedom of voting to be violated. One reason for this decision was the close result of the vote.
It was the first cancellation of a nationwide vote in the history of Switzerland. Up until then, votes were only canceled at district level (e.g. change of canton in Laufental , vote from 1983) or at community level (change from canton of Moutier , vote from 2017).
Withdrawal of the initiative
After the decision of the Federal Supreme Court, it was initially unclear for several months how the judgment should be taken into account. One of the topics discussed was whether to put the initiative to the vote again without any changes. On January 4, 2020, CVP President Gerhard Pfister finally announced that the party wanted to withdraw the initiative and launch a new popular initiative. In the new initiative one wants to dispense with the controversial definition of marriage.
literature
- Markus Häfliger: Something like this has never happened to the CVP In: Tages-Anzeiger , January 5, 2020
Web links
- Initiative committee website
- Chronology of the initiative , website of the Swiss Federal Chancellery
- Explanations of the Federal Council (voting booklet ) PDF file
- Popular initiative "For marriage and family - against the marriage penalty": Vote canceled . Media release by the Federal Supreme Court, April 10, 2019.
- Popular initiative "For marriage and family - against the marriage penalty" in the Swissvotes database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Communication from the Federal Chancellery of December 18, 2012.
- ↑ Press release from the Federal Chancellery of October 7, 2015.
- ↑ http://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/rueckstaendige-ehe-definition-homosexuelle-bekaempfen-cvp-initiative-130064361
- ↑ (sda) /fsr./boa./bue./swi .: The SVP clearly fails, the CVP narrowly. In: nzz.ch. February 28, 2016, accessed October 14, 2018 .
- ↑ Preliminary official final results of the Federal Chancellery, accessed on February 28, 2016.
- ↑ Marriage penalty: CVP files a voting complaint. Der Bund , June 18, 2016, accessed on June 19, 2018 .
- ↑ Marriage penalty: Voting complaint filed because of scandalous misinformation. CVP Switzerland, June 18, 2016, accessed June 19, 2018 .
- ↑ Kathrin Alder: Federal Court cancels vote on marriage penalty | NZZ . April 10, 2019, ISSN 0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed April 10, 2019]).
- ↑ Jürg Krebs: For the first time since 1848: Switzerland has to repeat a vote. In: St. Galler Tagblatt. Retrieved April 10, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Christoph Lenz: Historically! Federal court cancels vote on marriage penalty . In: Tages-Anzeiger . ISSN 1422-9994 ( tagesanzeiger.ch [accessed April 10, 2019]).
- ↑ Nathalie Christen: CVP President Pfister is planning a new initiative. In: srf.ch. January 4, 2020, accessed January 5, 2020 .