Swiss parliamentary elections 1863
The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1863 took place on October 25, 1863. There was a choice of 128 seats in the National Council (eight more than before). The elections were made according to the majority vote , with the country divided into 47 national council constituencies of different sizes . The strongest force were the liberals (or radical liberals), but for the first time they no longer had an absolute majority of the seats. Above all, the Catholic conservatives and the left democratic movement were able to benefit . In all cantons the elections to the Council of States were indirect and took place through the respective cantonal parliaments . The newly elected parliament met for the first time in the 6th legislative period on December 7, 1863.
Reallocation of constituencies
Due to the results of the census of 1860, a new division of the constituencies was required by law.According to the principle established in 1848 that a National Council must represent 20,000 souls (residents) or a fraction of more than 10,000 souls, the total number increased of the seats from 120 to 128. Of the eight additional mandates, one each went to the cantons of Basel-Landschaft , Basel-Stadt , Geneva , Graubünden , St. Gallen , Thurgau , Vaud and Valais .
Although Thurgau was now above the «optimum» of four seats per constituency established in 1850, no division was made; thus a five-member constituency was created for the first time. In Valais, a five-member constituency would also have been conceivable. As a result, however, the liberals concentrated in Lower Valais would have been permanently outvoted by the conservatives in Central and Upper Valais. In order to prevent this, it was left with three constituencies, but geographical reasons were put forward. Thus the slightly enlarged constituency of Upper Valais received the additional seat. The canton of Graubünden could also have formed a five constituency. Due to the diffuse party strengths, it was not foreseeable who could benefit from it. As requested by the Graubünden cantonal government, the number of constituencies was reduced from four to three (with 2.2 and 1 seats). The four two-member constituencies in the canton of St. Gallen were replaced by three three-member constituencies. In Vaud there were considerations to create a fourth constituency, but the three previous constituencies were retained and their demarcation changed marginally. The situation in Geneva and the two Basels, where the constituency corresponded to the cantonal area, was completely undisputed. There were a total of 47 constituencies, two fewer than before. After the approval of the National Council and the Council of States, the “Supplementary Act on Elections to the National Council” came into force on July 23, 1863.
Election campaign
As in 1860, the Helvetia student association urged its supporters to wage a campaign against representatives of the interests of the railway companies dependent on foreign capital (by which, in particular, Alfred Escher was meant). The opposites, however, were no longer exclusively of a personal nature, but were factual; the calls by Helvetia received hardly any attention. After the nationalization of the railways, which Federal Councilor Jakob Stämpfli was aiming for, failed to materialize, the focus was increasingly on the project of a railway crossing the Alps. In eastern Switzerland in particular, candidates were increasingly judged on whether they supported a railway through the Gotthard or the Lukmanier . Overall, however, the question of the Alpine railway remained a secondary aspect of the election campaign, as the project had hardly matured. The conservative opposition found itself in a phase of increasing disintegration, as there was no national umbrella organization and the ideological pressure from the liberal side weakened. On the other hand, the democratic movement began to make itself felt to the left of the Freedom . It strove to break the hegemony of the economic bourgeoisie by expanding direct democratic rights, whereby it appealed to passive groups of the electorate.
During the 5th legislative period , there were nine replacement elections in seven constituencies due to vacancies , with marginal losses for free-minded and moderate liberals. In 1863 there were a total of 69 ballots (six more than three years earlier). Only in 27 constituencies were the elections decided after the first ballot. As usual in the second half of the 19th century, all incumbent federal councilors ran for a compliment election ; that is, they stood for election as national councilors in order to have the voters confirm their legitimacy as members of the state government. Wilhelm Matthias Naeff , who needed three ballots in the 28th constituency (St. Gallen-Nordost) , showed particular difficulty . The National Council was not complete until February 8, 1864, after the necessary additional elections had been concluded.
Although the competition had increased and more constituencies were controversial, voter turnout fell. Across Switzerland it was 46.6% in the first ballot, which corresponds to a decrease of 2.5%; it was only slightly above the low of 1854. Due to the compulsory voting , it was highest in the canton of Schaffhausen at 88.2%. Otherwise, only the canton of Aargau had a value of more than 80%. In Basel-Stadt, participation almost tripled, while participation in the canton of Solothurn fell by a quarter. It was again lowest in the canton of Zurich at 18.6%. For the first time ever, the previously dominant liberals (or radical liberals) lost an absolute majority of the seats. This was due to the change of several liberals to the camp of the moderate liberals. The Catholic Conservatives and the democratic left, in particular, were able to benefit by winning five seats each.
Result of the National Council elections
Overall result
Of 556,738 male eligible voters, 259,398 took part in the elections, which corresponds to a turnout of 46.6%. The cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden , Glarus , Obwalden , Nidwalden and Uri are not included in these figures : There the election was made by the respective regional municipality , which is why no exact results are available.
The 128 seats in the National Council were distributed as follows:
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Note: An assignment of candidates to parties and political groups is only possible to a limited extent. In line with the political reality of the 19th century, one can rather speak of party currents or directions, the boundaries of which are partly fluid. The party names used are therefore an ideological assessment.
Results in the cantons
The table below shows the distribution of seats won by cantons.
| Canton | seats total |
electoral circles |
participating pation |
FL | LM | KK | DL | HE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aargau
|
10 | 3 | 82.4% | 4th | 4th | −1 | 2 | +1 | |||||
 Appenzell Ausserrhoden
|
2 | 1 | - | 2 | |||||||||
 Appenzell Innerrhoden
|
1 | 1 | - | 1 | |||||||||
 Basel-Country
|
3 | 1 | 51.8% | 3 | +1 | ||||||||
 Basel city
|
2 | 1 | 78.8% | 1 | +1 | 1 | |||||||
 Bern
|
23 | 6th | 44.5% | 20th | -1 | 3 | +1 | ||||||
 Freiburg
|
5 | 2 | 39.3% | - | -1 | 5 | +1 | ||||||
 Geneva
|
4th | 1 | 57.7% | 4th | +2 | - | -1 | ||||||
 Glarus
|
2 | 1 | - | 2 | |||||||||
 Grisons
|
5 | 3 | 50.7% | 2 | -1 | 2 | +1 | 1 | +1 | ||||
 Lucerne
|
7th | 3 | 28.0% | 5 | 2 | ||||||||
 Neuchâtel
|
4th | 1 | 37.5% | 4th | |||||||||
 Nidwalden
|
1 | 1 | - | - | −1 | 1 | +1 | ||||||
 Obwalden
|
1 | 1 | - | 1 | |||||||||
 Schaffhausen
|
2 | 1 | 88.2% | - | −1 | 1 | 1 | +1 | |||||
 Schwyz
|
2 | 1 | 13.7% | - | −1 | 2 | +1 | ||||||
 Solothurn
|
3 | 1 | 56.0% | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
 St. Gallen
|
9 | 3 | 67.5% | 2 | −2 | 5 | +2 | 2 | +1 | ||||
 Ticino
|
6th | 2 | 38.0% | 4th | −1 | 1 | +1 | 1 | |||||
 Thurgau
|
5 | 1 | 71.3% | 1 | −2 | 2 | +1 | 1 | +1 | 1 | +1 | ||
 Uri
|
1 | 1 | - | 1 | |||||||||
 Vaud
|
11 | 3 | 37.3% | 5 | −1 | 4th | 2 | +2 | |||||
 Valais
|
5 | 3 | 50.5% | 2 | 3 | +1 | |||||||
 train
|
1 | 1 | 30.7% | 1 | |||||||||
 Zurich
|
13 | 4th | 18.6% | 11 | −1 | 2 | +1 | ||||||
| Switzerland | 128 | 47 | 46.6% | 59 | −5 | 37 | +1 | 21st | +5 | 6th | +5 | 5 | +2 |
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).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, p. 343.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, first part, pp. 343-345.
- ↑ 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 July 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 648-649.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 649-650.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, p. 651.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 655-656.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 369.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, p. 655.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 485.
- ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, pp. 85-98
- ^ Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 350.
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