Cantonal referendum on the "University Act"
The cantonal referendum "University Law" was a referendum in the Swiss canton of Lucerne that took place on May 21, 2000. The content of the vote was the expansion of the existing university to become the University of Lucerne .
Background and content
At the beginning of 2000, Central Switzerland was the only one of Switzerland's seven major regions to have no real university, but only a university. The idea of a university came up as early as 1978, but was unsuccessful in a referendum. On January 17, 2000, the Lucerne Grand Council decided on the new University Act, which provided for the expansion of the university to become a university. Specifically, the planned measures were the expansion of the humanities faculty to include a subject sociology, as well as the creation of a new law faculty. The previous faculty of theology should be continued as before. The following number of students was assumed as a forecast up to 2005:
Faculty | So far (1998/99) | 2005 forecast |
---|---|---|
theology | 217 | 200 |
Humanities | 42 | 200 |
Jurisprudence | - | 500 |
Since the resolution on the University Act contradicts the result of the 1978 referendum, the Grand Council decided to submit its resolution again to the people as a vote.
Voting result
The Entlebuch office had the highest participation and the lowest approval with 61% yes votes. The highest percentage of votes in favor was in the Lucerne office with 75%. All five offices of the canton adopted the University Act with an average of 72% yes-votes and a participation of 53%.
Office | Voting participation | Yes (number) | No (number) | Yes (percent) | No (percent) | adoption |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Entlebuch | 60.85% | 4,767 | 3'006 | 61.33% | 38.67% | Yes |
Hochdorf | 51.99% | 14,510 | 5,063 | 74.13% | 25.87% | Yes |
Lucerne | 52.81% | 41,340 | 13,689 | 75.12% | 24.88% | Yes |
Sursee | 54.55% | 15,756 | 6,081 | 72.15% | 27.85% | Yes |
Willisau | 53.95% | 10,767 | 5,610 | 65.74% | 34.26% | Yes |
Total (5) | 53.59% | 87'140 | 33'449 | 72.26% | 27.74% | Yes |