Federal popular initiative "For marriage and family - against the marriage penalty"

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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.

Results by canton
  • Yes (15 3/2 stands)
  • No (5 3/2 stands)
    • Canton
    		 Yes
    (%)    		 No
    (%)    		 Participation
    (%)
    Kanton AargauKanton Aargau Aargau 52.8 47.2 64.3
    Canton of Appenzell AusserrhodenCanton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden 49.5 50.5 66.6
    Canton of Appenzell InnerrhodenCanton of Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden 55.6 44.4 59.6
    Canton of Basel-CountryCanton of Basel-Country Basel-Country 49.4 50.6 63.4
    Canton of Basel-StadtCanton of Basel-Stadt Basel city 39.5 60.5 66.6
    Canton BernCanton Bern Bern 46.2 53.8 61.0
    Canton of FriborgCanton of Friborg Freiburg 53.6 46.4 63.6
    Canton of GenevaCanton of Geneva Geneva 46.7 53.3 55.4
    Canton of GlarusCanton of Glarus Glarus 51.7 48.3 57.9
    canton of Grisonscanton of Grisons Grisons 49.4 50.6 61.0
    Canton of JuraCanton of Jura law 60.1 39.9 55.3
    Canton lucerneCanton lucerne Lucerne 50.8 49.2 68.0
    Canton of NeuchâtelCanton of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel 51.9 48.1 57.6
    Canton of NidwaldenCanton of Nidwalden Nidwalden 54.6 45.4 73.6
    Canton of ObwaldenCanton of Obwalden Obwalden 54.7 45.3 72.5
    Canton of SchaffhausenCanton of Schaffhausen Schaffhausen 51.3 48.7 75.8
    Canton of SchwyzCanton of Schwyz Schwyz 54.5 45.5 68.9
    Canton of SolothurnCanton of Solothurn Solothurn 51.7 48.3 64.1
    Canton of St. GallenCanton of St. Gallen St. Gallen 53.0 47.0 62.5
    Canton of TicinoCanton of Ticino Ticino 54.7 45.3 68.0
    Canton of ThurgauCanton of Thurgau Thurgau 54.0 46.0 59.7
    Canton of UriCanton of Uri Uri 50.9 49.1 73.3
    Canton of VaudCanton of Vaud Vaud 45.7 54.3 58.4
    Canton of ValaisCanton of Valais Valais 57.0 43.0 63.3
    Canton of ZugCanton of Zug train 51.6 48.4 69.9
    Canton ZurichCanton Zurich Zurich 43.5 56.5 65.6
    Federal coat of arms 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

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Communication from the Federal Chancellery of December 18, 2012.
    2. ↑ Press release from the Federal Chancellery of October 7, 2015.
    3. ↑ http://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/schweiz/rueckstaendige-ehe-definition-homosexuelle-bekaempfen-cvp-initiative-130064361
    4. ↑ (sda) /fsr./boa./bue./swi .: The SVP clearly fails, the CVP narrowly. In: nzz.ch. February 28, 2016, accessed October 14, 2018 .
    5. ↑ Preliminary official final results of the Federal Chancellery, accessed on February 28, 2016.
    6. ↑ Marriage penalty: CVP files a voting complaint. Der Bund , June 18, 2016, accessed on June 19, 2018 .
    7. ↑ Marriage penalty: Voting complaint filed because of scandalous misinformation. CVP Switzerland, June 18, 2016, accessed June 19, 2018 .
    8. ↑ Kathrin Alder: Federal Court cancels vote on marriage penalty | NZZ . April 10, 2019, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed April 10, 2019]).
    9. ↑ Jürg Krebs: For the first time since 1848: Switzerland has to repeat a vote. In: St. Galler Tagblatt. Retrieved April 10, 2019 .
    10. ↑ a b Christoph Lenz: Historically! Federal court cancels vote on marriage penalty . In: Tages-Anzeiger . ISSN  1422-9994 ( tagesanzeiger.ch [accessed April 10, 2019]).
    11. ↑ Nathalie Christen: CVP President Pfister is planning a new initiative. In: srf.ch. January 4, 2020, accessed January 5, 2020 .