List of Swiss National Council constituencies

The list of Swiss National Council constituencies shows the constituencies for elections to the Swiss National Council .

Historical development

From 1848 to 1919, the majority voting process was used throughout Switzerland . For this purpose the country was divided into constituencies of different sizes. Once the results of the census , which takes place every ten years, were available, the number and boundaries of the constituencies were redefined, with geographical and political factors playing a role in addition to demographic factors. To this end, the Federal Assembly passed a National Council election law for the first time in 1851 (in 1848 this was still a matter for the cantons ). So-called plural constituencies were common in most cantons. H. a constituency comprised several seats, for each of which an absolute majority of the votes cast was required. A canton was granted a National Council mandate for every 20,000 inhabitants or a fraction of more than 10,000 inhabitants. Due to the general population growth, the total number of national councils increased for each constituency revision, from 111 in 1848 to 189 in 1911. The number of constituencies fluctuated between 47 and 57.

With a few exceptions, the proportional voting system has been in force since 1919 . Each canton forms a single constituency, although this term is rarely used. In cantons that have only one seat on the National Council, the majority voting process continues to apply (where a relative majority is required). This affects the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden , Glarus , Nidwalden , Obwalden and Uri . Up to and including 2011, the results of the population censuses were used to calculate the number of seats; from 2015, the population registers will be used for distribution. The representation figure of 20,000 inhabitants per seat, which was common in the Majorz era, was initially retained. In order to curb the growth of the National Council, the representation number was increased to 22,000 inhabitants in 1931 (at the same time the length of the legislative period was extended from three to four years), and finally to 23,000 inhabitants in 1951. Since 1963 there has been a fixed upper limit of 200 seats.

Major constituencies (1848 to 1919)

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  Constituencies 1848

• 

  Constituencies 1851–1863

• 

  Constituencies 1863–1872

• 

  Constituencies 1872–1881

• 

  Constituencies 1881–1890

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  Constituencies 1890–1902

• 

  Constituencies 1902–1911

• 

  Constituencies 1911–1919

• Constituency: Unofficial name of the constituency, depends on the geographical location.
• Existing: Designates the year in which the constituency was created and dissolved.
• Constituency number: Official designation of the constituency in accordance with the National Council Election Act, which is uniform throughout Switzerland, consecutively numbered according to the order of the cantons in the Swiss Federal Constitution . In the National Council elections in 1848, there were no constituency numbers.
• Number of seats: self-explanatory

Canton	Constituency	Duration	Constituency number								Number of seats
			1851- 1863	1863- 1872	1872- 1881	1881- 1890	1890- 1902	1902- 1911	1911- 1919		1848- 1851	1851- 1863	1863- 1872	1872- 1881	1881- 1890	1890- 1902	1902- 1911	1911- 1919
Zurich	Zurich Southwest	1848-1919	1	1	1	1	1	1	1		3	4th	4th	5	5	6th	9	7th
	Zurich-West	1911-1919							2									5
	Zurich-South	1848-1919	2	2	2	2	2	2	3		3	3	3	3	4th	4th	5	5
	Zurich East	1848-1919	3	3	3	3	3	3	4th		3	3	3	3	4th	4th	5	5
	Zurich North	1848-1919	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	5		3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Bern	Bern-Oberland	1848-1919	5	5	5	5	5	5	6th		4th	4th	4th	5	5	5	5	6th
	Bern-Mittelland	1848-1919	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	7th		4th	4th	4th	4th	5	5	6th	7th
	Bern-Emmental	1848-1919	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	8th		3	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th
	Bern-Oberaargau	1848-1919	8th	8th	8th	8th	8th	8th	9		3	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th
	Bern-Seeland	1848-1919	9	9	9	9	9	9	10		3	3	3	3	4th	4th	4th	5
	Bern-Jura	1848-1890	10	10	10	10					3	4th	4th	5	5
	Bern-South Jura	1890-1919					10	10	11							3	3	3
	Bern-North Jura	1890-1919					11	11	12							2	3	3
Lucerne	Lucerne	1848-1851									6th
	Lucerne-South	1851-1872	11	11								2	2
	Lucerne center	1851-1872	12	12								2	2
	Lucerne North	1851-1872	13	13								3	3
	Lucerne East	1872-1919			11	11	12	12	13					2	2	2	3	3
	Lucerne southwest	1872-1890			12	12								1	1
	Lucerne Northwest	1872-1890			13	13								2	2
	Lucerne-West	1890-1919					13	13	14th							3	2	2
	Lucerne Northeast	1872-1919			14th	14th	14th	14th	15th					2	2	2	2	3
Uri	Uri	1848-1919	14th	14th	15th	15th	15th	15th	16		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Schwyz	Schwyz (2 constituencies)	1848-1851									2
	Schwyz	1851-1919	15th	15th	16	16	16	16	17th			2	2	2	3	3	3	3
Obwalden	Obwalden	1848-1919	16	16	17th	17th	17th	17th	18th		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Nidwalden	Nidwalden	1848-1919	17th	17th	18th	18th	18th	18th	19th		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Glarus	Glarus	1848-1919	18th	18th	19th	19th	19th	19th	20th		1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
train	train	1848-1919	19th	19th	20th	20th	20th	20th	21st		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Freiburg	Freiburg (5 constituencies)	1848-1851									5
	Freiburg North	1851-1919	20th	20th	21st	21st	21st	21st	22nd			3	3	3	2	2	2	2
	Freiburg-center	1881-1911				22nd	22nd	22nd							2	2	2
	Freiburg-South	1851-1919	21st	21st	22nd	23	23	23	23			2	2	3	2	2	2	5
Solothurn	Solothurn	1848-1919	22nd	22nd	23	24	24	24	24		3	3	3	4th	4th	4th	5	6th
Basel city	Basel city	1848-1919	23	23	24	25th	25th	25th	25th		1	1	2	2	3	4th	6th	7th
Basel-Country	Basel-Country	1848-1919	24	24	25th	26th	26th	26th	26th		2	2	3	3	3	3	3	4th
Schaffhausen	Schaffhausen	1848-1919	25th	25th	26th	27	27	27	27		2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Appenzell Ausserrhoden	1848-1919	26th	26th	27	28	28	28	28		2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3
Appenzell Innerrhoden	Appenzell Innerrhoden	1848-1919	27	27	28	29	29	29	29		1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
St. Gallen	St. Gallen city	1890-1919					30th	30th	30th							2	3	4th
	St. Gallen Northeast	1848-1919	28	28	29	30th	31	31	31		2	2	3	4th	4th	2	3	4th
	St. Gallen-South	1848-1919	29	29	30th	31	32	32	32		2	2	3	3	3	2	2	2
	St. Gallen-Center	1890-1919					33	33	33							3	3	3
	St. Gallen-West	1848-1863	30th								2	2
	St. Gallen Northwest	1848-1919	31	30th	31	32	34	34	34		2	2	3	3	3	2	2	2
Grisons	Grisons	1902-1919						35	35								5	6th
	Graubünden-center	1848-1863	32								1	1
	Graubünden North	1848-1902	34	31	32	33	35				1	1	2	2	2	2
	Graubünden East	1848-1902	33	32	33	34	36				1	1	1	1	1	1
	Graubünden West	1848-1902	35	33	34	35	37				1	1	2	2	2	2
Aargau	Aargau	1848-1851									9
	Aargau southwest	1851-1919	36	34	35	36	38	36	36			3	3	3	3	3	3	3
	Aargau center	1851-1919	37	35	36	37	39	37	37			4th	4th	4th	4th	3	3	4th
	Aargau Southeast	1890-1919					40	38	38							1	1	1
	Aargau North	1851-1919	38	36	37	38	41	39	39			3	3	3	3	3	3	4th
Thurgau	Thurgau (4 constituencies)	1848-1851									4th
	Thurgau	1851-1919	39	37	38	39	42	40	40		4th	4th	5	5	5	5	6th	7th
Ticino	Ticino	1848-1851									6th
	Ticino north	1851-1919	40	38	39	40	43	41	41			3	3	3	2	2	3	4th
	South Ticino	1851-1919	41	39	40	41	44	42	42			3	3	3	5	4th	4th	4th
Vaud	Vaud East	1848-1919	42	40	41	42	45	43	43		3	4th	4th	4th	5	5	7th	8th
	North Vaud	1848-1919	43	41	42	43	46	44	44		3	3	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	5
	Vaud-West	1848-1919	44	42	43	44	47	45	45		3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Valais	Upper Valais	1848-1919	45	43	44	45	48	46	46		1	1	2	2	2	2	4th	4th
	Central Valais	1848-1902	46	44	45	46	49				1	1	1	1	1	1
	Lower Valais	1851-1919	47	45	46	47	50	47	47			2	2	2	2	2	2	2
	Lower Valais north	1848-1851									1
	Lower Valais south	1848-1851									1
Neuchâtel	Neuchâtel	1848-1919	48	46	47	48	51	48	48		3	4th	4th	5	5	5	6th	7th
Geneva	Geneva	1848-1919	49	47	48	49	52	49	49		3	3	4th	4th	5	5	7th	8th

Proportional constituencies (from 1919)

Constituency	Number of seats
	1919- 1922	1922- 1931	1931- 1943	1943- 1951	1951- 1963	1963- 1971	1971- 1983	1983- 1995	1995- 2003	2003– 2011	2015	2019
Zurich	25th	27	28	31	32	35	35	35	34	34	35	35
Bern	32	34	31	33	33	33	31 a	29	27	26th	25th	24
Lucerne	8th	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	9
Uri	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Schwyz	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4th	4th	4th
Obwalden	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Nidwalden	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Glarus	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
train	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3
Freiburg	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	6th	6th	6th	6th	7th	7th	7th
Solothurn	6th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	6th	6th
Basel city	7th	7th	7th	8th	8th	8th	7th	6th	6th	5	5	5
Basel-Country	4th	4th	4th	4th	4th	5	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th
Schaffhausen	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
St. Gallen	15th	15th	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12
Grisons	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Aargau	12	12	12	12	13	13	14th	14th	15th	15th	16	16
Thurgau	7th	7th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th	6th
Ticino	8th	8th	7th	7th	7th	7th	8th	8th	8th	8th	8th	8th
Vaud	16	16	15th	16	16	16	16	17th	17th	18th	18th	19th
Valais	6th	6th	6th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	7th	8th	8th
Neuchâtel	7th	7th	6th	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4th	4th
Geneva	8th	9	8th	8th	8th	10	11	11	11	11	11	12
law							2 b	2	2	2	2	2

^a 1979 two seats went from the canton of Bern to the newly founded canton of Jura .
^b The canton of Jura received two seats from the canton of Bern in 1979.

literature

• Erich Gruner : The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 1 , first part. Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1442-9 .
• Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 1 , second part. Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1443-7 .
• Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 2 . Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1444-5 (notes).
• Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 3 . Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1445-3 (tables, graphics, maps).

Web links

• Peter Gilg : Electoral systems. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Corina Casanova : From 111 to 200. (No longer available online.) Admin.ch , September 14, 2011, archived from the original on October 28, 2014 ; accessed on October 28, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.