Swiss parliamentary elections 1866

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the National Council in 18661869 →

Turnout: 50.6%

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

39.6

28.4

17.0

10.5

2.9

1.6

FL

LM

KK

DL

HE

Independent

Gains and losses

compared to

 % p

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

-4.5

+4.6

-2.0

+3.8

-1.7

-0.2

FL

LM

KK

DL

HE

Independent

Distribution of seats in the National Council

10

54

38

4th

22nd

10 54 38 4th 22nd 

A total of 128 seats

• DL : 10
• FL : 54
• LM : 38
• ER: 4
• KK : 22

The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1866 took place on October 28, 1866. There was a choice of 128 seats in the National Council . The elections were made according to the majority vote , with the country divided into 47 national council constituencies of different sizes . As three years earlier, the liberals (or radical liberals) remained the strongest force, but had to accept further losses of seats and again failed to gain an absolute majority. The left-wing democratic movement won the election . 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 7th legislative period on December 3, 1866.

Election campaign

Shortly after the elections of 1863, the Helvetia student association decided to strive for a revision of the Swiss federal constitution , with the popular election of the Federal Council as the main demand. The election campaign of 1866 should be entirely dedicated to this goal. To this end, a mass movement should be set up to put the authorities under political pressure. As in 1860, Helvetia entered into an alliance with the Grütliverein ; the cooperation of intellectuals and journeymen should ensure a broad base in the population. However, as a result of the question of freedom of settlement for Jews raised in the Franco-Swiss trade agreement , the Federal Council itself initiated the revision. Helvetia found no support in parliament with its own proposals, which is why it passed the no slogan before the referendum on January 14, 1866. The electorate rejected eight out of nine constitutional amendments, only the equality of Jews was accepted.

Spurred on by this success, Helvetia soon began collecting signatures for a complete overhaul. In the summer of 1866, however, the action came to a complete standstill, as the Austro-Prussian war drew attention to military and foreign policy problems and pushed the constitutional revision into the background. Issues such as strengthening the military or re-arming the army now dominated the election campaign and were largely undisputed. The gathering of signatures showed that the rural population - the main target group of the democratic movement - was more interested in material improvements than in expanding people's rights . The democratic reform program was not yet extensive enough to really gain a foothold among the people. In addition, the social question was largely excluded. All of these factors led to a rather sluggish election campaign.

During the 6th legislative period there were nine substitute elections in seven constituencies due to vacancies , with shifts from the liberal center to the Democrats and the Catholic Conservatives. In 1866 there were a total of 65 ballots (four fewer than three years earlier). Only in 29 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. Both Wilhelm Matthias Naeff and Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel failed in their constituencies. Regardless of this, they were subsequently just confirmed in office by the Federal Assembly . With the last supplementary election on January 20, 1867, the National Council was complete.

Compared to 1863, the turnout was 4 percent higher. This is due in particular to a surge in participation in the canton of Zurich (from 18.6% to 59.3%). In most of the other cantons, however, there was a slight decrease. As usual, the canton of Schaffhausen had the highest value , where 86.3% cast their vote due to mandatory voting. The canton of Schwyz brought up the rear with 17.0%. Clearly the losers in the election were the liberals, who lost five seats, while the Democrats gained the most (+4 seats).

Result of the National Council elections

→ Main article : Swiss parliamentary elections 1866 / Results of the National Council elections

Overall result

Of 561,669 adult male eligible voters, 284,020 took part in the elections, which corresponds to a turnout of 50.6%. 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:

Political party Seats 1863 before dissolution Seats 1866 +/- Share of voters +/- FL 59 59 54 −5 39.6% −4.5% LM 37 34 38 +1 28.4% + 4.6% KK 21st 22nd 22nd +1 17.0% −2.0% DL 6th 8th 10 +4 10.5% + 3.8% HE 5 5 4th −1 02.9% −1.7% Various - - - - 01.6% + 0.1% kl. Parties - - - - - −0.3%

FL = liberal left ( liberal , radical, radical democrats) LM = Liberal Middle (Liberals, Liberal Democrats) KK = Catholic Conservative ER = Evangelical Rights (Evangelical / Reformed Conservatives) DL = Democratic Left (extreme left, democrats )

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	78.4%	2	−2	7th	+3	1	−1
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	2	1	-	1	+1	1	−1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1	1	-					1
Basel-Country	3	1	61.7%	2	-1	1	+1
Basel city	2	1	66.6%	1		1
Bern	23	6th	43.7%	19th	-1							4th	+1
Freiburg	5	2	33.9%					5
Geneva	4th	1	52.7%	-	-4	4th	+4
Glarus	2	1	-	1	+1	1	-1
Grisons	5	3	47.3%	2		2		1
Lucerne	7th	3	31.4%	5				2
Neuchâtel	4th	1	26.4%	4th
Nidwalden	1	1	-					1
Obwalden	1	1	-					1
Schaffhausen	2	1	86.9%			1				1
Schwyz	2	1	17.0%			1	+1	1	−1
Solothurn	3	1	61.8%	2				1
St. Gallen	9	3	66.6%	2		3	−2	1	+1	3	+1
Ticino	6th	2	47.2%	3	−1	1		2	+1
Thurgau	5	1	70.7%	1		1	−1	1		2	+1
Uri	1	1	-					1
Vaud	11	3	33.2%	7th	+2	4th				-	−2
Valais	5	3	52.7%	2				3
train	1	1	30.7%			1
Zurich	13	4th	59.3%			9	−2			4th	+4	-	−2
Switzerland	128	47	50.6%	54	−5	38	+1	22nd	+1	10	+4	4th	−1

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

1. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, p. 656.
2. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 657-659.
3. ↑ Paul Fink: The «choice of compliments» by incumbent Federal Councilors in the National Council 1851-1896 . In: Allgemeine Geschichtsforschende Gesellschaft der Schweiz (Hrsg.): Swiss journal for history . tape 45 , issue 2. Schwabe AG , 1995, ISSN  0036-7834 , p. 218 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-81131 .
4. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 659-660.
5. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 369.
6. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, p. 662.
7. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 485.
8. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, pp. 99-112
9. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 351.