National Council constituency St. Gallen-Northwest
The National Council constituency St. Gallen-Nordwest was an electoral district in elections to the Swiss National Council . It existed from 1848 to 1919 (introduction of today's proportional voting rights ) and covered the north-western part of the canton of St. Gallen .
Electoral process
This was a plural constituency. This means that although several seats had to be allocated, the majority voting system was used. In the sense of the Romansh majority election , a candidate needed an absolute majority of the votes in order to be elected. Several ballots may have been necessary to distribute all seats. Each voter had as many votes as there were seats to be allocated.
Name and number of seats
St. Gallen-Nordwest is an unofficial geographical name. In official use, consecutive numbering applied across the whole of Switzerland, arranged according to the order of the cantons in the Swiss Federal Constitution, was common . Due to the changing number over the years, some constituencies were given a new number several times. St. Gallen-Nordwest had the number 31 from 1851 (first application of a uniform federal law), from 1863 the number 30, from 1872 the number 31, from 1881 the number 32 and from 1890 the number 34.
Initially, St. Gallen-Northwest had 2 seats, from 1863 there were 3 seats, from 1890 again 2 seats.
expansion
The area of the constituency was made binding for the first time on December 21, 1850 with the "Federal Act on the Election of Members of the National Council", whereby constituency IV, created in 1848 by the St. Gallen cantonal government , was adopted unchanged. St. Gallen Northwest comprised:
- in the district of Alttoggenburg the communities Kirchberg and Lütisburg
- the Gossau district (including the Straubenzell community )
- in the Neutoggenburg district, the communities Brunnadern , Hemberg , Oberhelfenschwil and St. Peterzell
- the district of Untertoggenburg
- the district of Wil
The area was expanded with the “Supplementary Act on Elections to the National Council” of July 23, 1863, when a total of six communities in the Alttoggenburg and Neutoggenburg districts became part of St. Gallen-Northwest when the constituency of St. Gallen-West was dissolved . The constituency now comprised:
- the district of Alttoggenburg
- the Gossau district (including the Straubenzell community)
- the Neutoggenburg district
- the district of Untertoggenburg
- the district of Wil
The "Federal Act on Elections to the National Council" of June 20, 1890 resulted in a significant reduction in size. The districts of Neutoggenburg and Untertoggenburg became part of the newly created constituency of St. Gallen-Mitte . The constituency of St. Gallen-Nordwest thus consisted of two unconnected areas and still included:
- the district of Alttoggenburg
- the Gossau district (including the Straubenzell community)
- the district of Wil
Finally, with the “Federal Law on the National Council constituencies” of June 4, 1902, the municipality of Straubenzell was ceded to the constituency of St. Gallen-Stadt . Most recently, St. Gallen Northwest comprised:
- the district of Alttoggenburg
- the Gossau district
- the district of Wil
In 1919 the five St. Gallen constituencies were merged to form the St. Gallen National Council constituency, which still exists today , in which proportional representation applies.
National Councils
- G = total renewal election
- E = replacement election in the event of vacancies
- K = election of compliments by an incumbent Federal Councilor
- B = supplementary election for a Federal Councilor
source
- Erich Gruner : The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 3 . Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1445-3 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Federal law on the election of members of the National Council (of December 21, 1850). (PDF, 676 kB) In: Federal Gazette No. 61 of December 28, 1850. admin.ch , May 21, 2013, accessed on November 2, 2014 .
- ↑ Supplementary Act on Elections to the National Council. (PDF, 1.0 MB) In: Federal Gazette No. 24 of June 6, 1863. admin.ch, May 21, 2013, accessed on November 2, 2014 .
- ^ Federal law on elections to the National Council (of June 20, 1890). (PDF, 296 kB) In: Federal Gazette No. 26 of June 21, 1890. admin.ch, May 21, 2013, accessed on November 2, 2014 .
- ^ Federal law on the electoral districts of the National Council (of June 4, 1902). (PDF, 281 kB) In: Federal Gazette No. 24 of June 11, 1902. admin.ch, May 21, 2013, accessed on November 2, 2014 .