Swiss parliamentary elections 1931

← 1928General election of
the National Council in 19311935 →

Turnout: 78.8%

 %

30th

20th

10

0

28.72

26.94

21.38

15.27

2.85

1.48

0.98

0.97

0.37

1.04

SP

FDP

CIP

BGB

LPS

KPS

EPP

DP

KPS-O

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1925

 % p

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

+1.36

-0.42

-0.06

-0.51

-0.10

-0.36

+0.28

-0.36

+0.37

-0.20

SP

FDP

CIP

BGB

LPS

KPS

EPP

DP

KPS-O

Otherwise.

Bundeshaus in Bern:
seat of the Swiss parliament

The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1931 took place on October 25, 1931. All 187 mandates of the National Council and 25 of the 44 mandates in the Council of States were to be newly awarded. This 29th legislative period lasted four years until October 1935.

In the 1931 elections there were some changes compared to the previous elections. In the referendum of March 15, 1931, the most important changes were decided with 296,053 yes to 253,382 no, a four-year instead of a three-year term and a mandate from the National Council to 22,000 instead of 20,000 residents. This reduces the number of seats in the National Council by 11 seats to 187 seats.

Due to the downsizing, the four large parties (SP, FDP, KVP and BGB) each lost mandates. The clear loser in the election was the FDP, which lost 6 of its 58 seats to date. The Social Democrats, on the other hand, were able to increase their share of the vote again and only lost one seat.

Two communist parties competed in the canton of Schaffhausen. The Moscow-loyal KPS lost its seat to the independent communists ( Communist Party opposition ). With the Ordre politique nationale and the Eidgenössische Front, parties of the so-called front movement appeared for the first time at the national level. However, they did not get enough votes for a seat in parliament.

The SP won two seats in the Council of States and was again represented in the Small Chamber. The FDP lost one of its 20 mandates and the Democrats lost their only seat. The UDE representative was not re-elected in the canton of Geneva.

The average turnout in the 1931 National Council elections was 78.8%, with cantonal values ​​between 25.1% in Obwalden and 93.0% in Schaffhausen.

Election mode

National Council

The national councils have been elected according to the proportional representation system since 1919 . H. the seats are distributed in the individual cantons according to the proportion of voters on the party lists and only within the list according to the individual votes. The number of seats per canton is determined based on the number of inhabitants.

More detailed on this: National Council (Switzerland) - electoral process

Council of States

Every canton has elected two representatives for the Council of States since 1848 (former half-cantons : one representative). The elections to the Council of States are based on cantonal law. In most of the cantons, the cantons were also elected on October 25th. In the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden , Glarus , Nidwalden and Obwalden , the municipalities elected the Council of States in spring. The cantons not only had different election dates, but also terms of office of different lengths (1–4 years). In the cantons of Bern (November session ), Friborg (1 person in the May session, 1 person in the November session), Neuchâtel (on the same day with the National Council elections) and St. Gallen (in the spring session), the Council of States were elected by the cantonal parliament. In all other cantons, the Council of States was determined in ballot boxes, usually on the same day as the National Council elections. In deviation from this, the voters in the cantons of Graubünden (first Sunday in March), Ticino (last Sunday in February) and Zug (in November) voted .

More detailed on this: Council of States - electoral procedure

Results National Council

Notes on voter numbers

In the multi-person constituencies, each voter has as many votes as there are seats available in his canton (34 in the canton of Bern, 2 in the canton of Zug). He can assign these votes to any candidate on the lists that are standing for election ( panaschieren ). One vote for a candidate is also one vote for his party. If a voter has not given all of his votes to candidates, these votes go to the list chosen by him as so-called "additional votes". If the voter does not select a list, but uses a so-called "ballot slip without party name" - also known as a blank list - unused votes expire (so-called empty votes).

In order to obtain results that are comparable across cantons, the number of fictitious voters per canton and party must first be calculated. And the sum of all fictitious voters of the individual cantons is then the voters at the state level (e.g. SP rounded to 247,946 voters). An Aargau "voter" can also consist of 12 people who only have one candidate from the party concerned on their list.

The Federal Statistical Office therefore uses the term "fictitious voter" for the voter, since an effective voter can only be a partial voter. The number of voters corresponds to the number of valid ballot papers. At the canton level, the sum of all party votes (sum of the candidate votes of candidates from a party plus additional votes = empty fields in a party list) is the basis for calculation. Example: Party A gets 12,000 in canton X, party B 27,000 and party C 48,000 out of 87,000 party votes. The number of valid ballot papers is 25,000.Thus, party A has 3,448.28 (12,000: 87,000 × 25,000), party B 7,758.62 (27,000: 87,000 × 25,000) and party C 13,793.10 (48,000: 87,000 × 25,000) in this canton. fictional voters. All three parties together have a total of 25,000 voters.

The elected members of the National Council are listed in Federal Gazette No. 48 of December 2, 1931.

Parties, voters, seats

The nationwide results were as follows:

2

1

49

1

2

52

6th

44

30th

2 1 49 1 2 52 6th 44 30th 

A total of 187 seats

• KPS : 2
• KPS-O : 1
• SP : 49
• EVP : 1
• DP : 2
• FDP : 52
• LPS : 6
• KVP : 44
• BGB : 30

Strongest parties in the cantons and distribution of seats

Political party	Voters	%	(+/-)	Seats	(+/-)
Social Democratic Party	247,946	28.72%	+1.36%	49	−1
Liberal Democratic Party	232,562	26.94%	−0.42%	52	−6
Conservative People's Party	184,602	21.38%	−0.06%	44	−2
Farmers, trade and citizens' parties	131,809	15.27%	−0.51%	30th	−1
Liberal Party of Switzerland	24,573	2.85%	−0.10%	6th	± 0
Communist Party of Switzerland	12,778	1.48%	−0.36%	2	−1
Evangelical People's Party	8,454	0.98%	+ 0.28%	1	± 0
Democratic Party	8,372	0.97%	−0.36%	2	± 0
Communist Party Opposition (SH)	3,204	0.37%	+ 0.37%	1	+1
Ordre politique nationale (GE) 1	2,613	0.30%	+ 0.30%	0	± 0
Parti progressiste national (NE)	2,354	0.27%	−0.15%	0	−1
Union de défense économique et d'action nationale (GE) 2	1,346	0.16%	−0.20%	0	−1
Federal Front (ZH)	1,191	0.14%	+ 0.14%	0	± 0
Independent List (AR)	1,071	0.12%	+ 0.12%	0	± 0
Isolated votes in single constituencies	416	0.05%	+ 0.05%	0	± 0
Total	863,291	100%		187	± 0

¹ in German (analogous): National Political Order / Order for National Politics

² in German (by analogy): Association for the Defense of (Free) Economy and National Action

Distribution of seats in the cantons

Canton	Total	FDP		SP		CIP		BB		LPS		Dem		KPS		EPP		KPS-O		PPN		UDE 3
Aargau	12	2		4th		3		3
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	2	1	−1	1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1					1
Basel-Country	4th	2	+1	1		0	−1	1
Basel city	7th	1		2		1		1		1				1
Bern	31	5	−1	10	−1	1	−1	15th
Freiburg	7th	1	−1			6th	+1
Geneva	8th	2		4th	+1	1				1	−1											0	−1
Glarus	2	1										1
Grisons	6th	2		1		2						1
Lucerne	9	3		1		5
Neuchâtel	6th	2		3						1										0	−1
Nidwalden	1					1
Obwalden	1					1
Schaffhausen	2	0	−1					1						0	−1			1	+1
Schwyz	3	1				2
Solothurn	7th	3		2		2
St. Gallen	13	4th	−1	3		6th	−1
Ticino	7th	3	−1	1		3
Thurgau	6th	1		1	−1	1		3
Uri	1	1
Vaud	15th	7th	−1	4th				1	−1	3	+1
Valais	6th	1				5
train	2	1				1
Zurich	28	8th		11		2		5						1	+1	1
Switzerland	187	52	−6	49	−1	44	−2	30th	−1	6th	−1	2	± 0	2	± 0	1	± 0	1	+1	0	−1	0	−1

³ Union de défense économique et d'action nationale

Results of the Council of States elections

The elected members of the Council of States are listed in the Federal Gazette of December 2, 1931.

Distribution of seats

2

1

19th

1

18th

3

2 1 19th 1 18th 3 

A total of 44 seats

• SP : 2
• DP : 1
• FDP : 19
• LPS : 1
• KVP : 18
• BGB : 3

Political party	Elections 1931	Elections 1928
PLC	2	0
CIP	18th	18th
LPS	1	1
FDP	19th	20th
DP	1	1
BGB	3	3

Elected Councils of State

Canton	1. Seat of the Council of States	2. Seat of the Council of States
Aargau	Peter Emil Isler , FDP (previously)	Gottfried Keller , FDP (previously)
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Johannes Baumann , FDP (previously)	only one seat
Appenzell Innerrhoden	Carl Rusch , KVP (previously)	only one seat
Basel-Country	Gustav Johann Schneider , FDP (previously)	only one seat
Basel city	Ernst-Alfred Thalmann , FDP (previously)	only one seat
Bern	Paul Charmillot , FDP (previously)	Carl Moser , BGB (previously)
Freiburg	Emile Savoy , KVP (previously)	Bernard Weck , KVP (previously)
Geneva	Charles Burklin , SP (new)	Albert Malche , FDP (new)
Glarus	Edwin Hauser , DP (previously)	Philippe Mercier , FDP (so far)
Grisons	Johann Josef Huonder , KVP (new)	Andreas Laely , FDP (so far)
Lucerne	Jakob Sigrist , KVP (previously)	Albert Status , CIP (new)
Neuchâtel	Ernest Béguin , FDP (so far)	Pierre de Meuron , LPS (previously)
Nidwalden	Anton Zumbühl , KVP (previously)	only one seat
Obwalden	Walter Amstalden , CIP (previously)	only one seat
Schaffhausen	Heinrich Bolli , FDP (previously)	Johannes Winzeler , BGB (previously)
Schwyz	Martin Ochsner , CIP (previously)	Adolf Suter , KVP (previously)
Solothurn	Hugo Dietschi , FDP (previously)	Robert Schöpfer , FDP (so far)
St. Gallen	Ernst Löpfe , FDP (new)	Anton August Messmer , KVP (previously)
Ticino	Brenno Bertoni , FDP (so far)	Antonio Luigi Riva , KVP (previously)
Thurgau	Albert Böhi , FDP (previously)	Anton Schmid , BGB (previously)
Uri	Isidor Meyer , KVP (previously)	Ludwig Walker , CIP (previously)
Vaud	Norbert Bosset , FDP (previously)	Louis Chamorel , FDP (new)
Valais	Pierre Barman , KVP (previously)	Ramond Evéquoz , KVP (previously)
train	Philipp Etter , CIP (new)	Josef Hildebrand , KVP (previously)
Zurich	Gustav Keller , FDP (previously)	Emil Klöti , SP (new)

Political groups in the 29th legislative period

Political groups are associations of members of parliament from one or more parties. The table below shows the status at the beginning of the legislative period.

fraction	total	National Council	Council of States
Radical Democratic Group (FDP)	71	52	19th
Catholic Conservatives	62	44	18th
Social democrats	51	49	2
Farmers, trades and citizens' factions	33	30th	3
Liberal Democratic Group	7th	6th	1
without party affiliation	7th	6th	1

Web links

• Federal Gazette No. 48 of December 2, 1931 with the results

Individual evidence

1. ^ «National Council elections: distribution of mandates according to parties, 1919–2015»
2. ↑ Table «National Council elections: voter turnout, 1919–2015»
3. ^ Members of the National Council, pages 602–665
4. ↑ National Council elections: distribution of mandates by party and canton. Federal Statistical Office, December 1, 2015, accessed on May 28, 2017 . 
5. ^ Members of the Council of States, pages 666–668
6. ^ Parliamentary groups since 1912