Federal popular initiative "for the popular election of the Federal Council and increasing the number of members"
| Eligible voters | |
|---|---|
| Total eligible voters | 747,262 |
| Voting participation | |
| Ballot papers received | 439,498 |
| Voting participation | 58.81% |
| Disregarded ballot papers | |
| Blank ballot papers | 15,734 |
| Invalid ballot | 7,316 |
| Eligible Ballots | |
| Valid ballot papers | 416,448 |
| Yes votes | 145,926 (35.0%) |
| Vote no | 270,522 (65.0%) |
| Accepting stands | 7 2/2 |
| Discarding stands | 12 4/2 |
The federal popular initiative "for the popular election of the Federal Council and increasing the number of members" was a popular initiative that was voted on on November 4, 1900. It was launched by the Social Democratic Party and the Catholic Conservatives . The initiative was submitted on June 9, 1899 with a total of 64,685 valid signatures from Swiss voters. She called for increasing the number of members of the Federal Council from seven to nine, and the proportional representation of the Federal Council by the people.
The Federal Council recommended that the voters reject the initiative. 145,926 citizens voted for the initiative, while it was rejected by 270,522 citizens. 7 2/2 stands accepted, 12 4/2 stands had rejected, which meant that neither the popular nor the stand majority was achieved and the initiative was thus rejected.
The election of the Federal Council by the people was also rejected in popular elections in 1942 with 67.6% and in 2013 with 76.3% no votes.
Initiative text
The federal constitution is amended as follows:
Articles 95, 96, 100 and 103 of the Federal Constitution are repealed. The following articles take their place:
Art. 95
The highest executive and managing authority of the Confederation is a Federal Council, which consists of nine members.
Art. 96
The members of the Federal Council are elected by Swiss citizens who are entitled to vote on the day of the National Council elections for a period of three years, taking office on the following January 1st.
The election takes place in an electoral district that encompasses all of Switzerland. There should only be two ballots, of which the second is also free. In the first ballot the absolute majority decides, in the second the relative majority.
Any Swiss citizen who can be elected to the National Council is eligible to vote. However, no more than one member may be elected from the same canton and at least two members must belong to Romansh Switzerland.
The positions that have become vacant during a term of office are to be filled immediately for the remainder of the term of office, unless the total renewal is imminent within six months.
Art. 100
In order to be able to negotiate validly, at least five members of the Federal Council must be present.
Art. 103
Legislation will determine the details of the organization of the federal administration.
Until a law is passed, the business of the Federal Council is distributed among the individual members according to departments and the respective decision is taken by the Federal Council as the authority.
In Art. 85 no. 4, the “Election of the Federal Council” is omitted from the Federal Constitution.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ admin.ch: Chronology of popular initiatives
- ↑ BBl 1899 IV 741 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ BBl 1900 IV 778 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
