Swiss parliamentary elections 1951

← 1947General election of
the National Council in 19511955 →

Turnout: 71.2%

 %

30th

20th

10

0

25.99

23.99

22.53

12.57

5.11

2.67

2.58

2.25

0.99

1.32

SP

FDP

CIP

BGB

LdU

PdA

LPS

DP

EPP

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1947

 % p

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

-0.21

+1.03

+1.37

+0.49

+0.69

-2.47

-0.60

-0.68

+0.05

+0.33

SP

FDP

CIP

BGB

LdU

PdA

LPS

DP

EPP

Otherwise.

Bundeshaus in Bern:
seat of the Swiss parliament

The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1951 took place on October 28, 1951. All 196 mandates of the National Council and 25 of the 44 mandates in the Council of States were to be reassigned. This 34th legislative period lasted four years until October 1955. Based on the results of the 1950 census, the number of seats in the National Council rose from 194 to 196.

The National Council elections suffered significant losses for the PdA , whose share of the vote almost halved under the sign of the Cold War . The Catholic Conservatives, on the other hand, were able to gain and once again became the strongest parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly (national and Council of States added together). Otherwise there were only minor shifts.

There were only minor changes in the Council of States. BGB and SP lost one seat each to the FDP and LPS. The two independent councilors of states were re-elected.

The average turnout in the National Council elections in 1951 fell to 71.2%, with cantonal values ​​between 39.9% in Appenzell Innerrhoden and 86.0% in Aargau.

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 as so-called “additional votes” to the list he has elected. 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 249,857 voters). An Aargau “voter” can also consist of 13 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 November 29, 1951.

Parties, voters, seats

There were silent elections in the cantons of Glarus and Schaffhausen.

The nationwide results were as follows:

5

49

10

1

4th

51

5

48

23

5 49 10 1 4th 51 5 48 23 

196 seats in total

• PdA : 5
• SP : 49
• LdU : 10
• EVP : 1
• DP : 4
• FDP : 51
• LPS : 5
• KVP : 48
• BGB : 23

Political party	Voters	%	(+/-)	Seats	(+/-)
Social Democratic Party	249,857	25.99%	−0.21%	49	+1
Liberal Democratic Party	230,687	23.99%	+1.03%	51	−1
Conservative People's Party	216,616	22.53%	+1.37%	48	+4
Farmers, trade and citizens' parties	120,819	12.57%	+ 0.49%	23	+2
National Ring of Independents	49,100	5.11%	+ 0.69%	10	+2
Party of labor	25,659	2.67%	−2.47%	5	−2
Liberal Party of Switzerland	24,813	2.58%	−0.60%	5	−2
Democratic Party	21,606	2.25%	−0.68%	4th	−1
Evangelical People's Party	9,559	0.99%	+ 0.05%	1	± 0
Liberal Socialist Party (ZH, BE, BS)	8,194	0.85%	+ 0.37%	0	−1
Campaign Canton Basel (BL)	2,168	0.23%	+ 0.23%	0	± 0
Free Democratic People's List (AR)	1,388	0.14%	+ 0.14%	0	± 0
List d'union paysanne et ouvrière (VS) 1	706	0.07%	+0.07%	0	± 0
Isolated votes in single constituencies	326	0.03%	± 0.00%	0	± 0
Total	961,498	100%		196	+2

¹ in German (analogously): United List of Peasants and Workers

Distribution of seats in the cantons

Canton	Total	FDP		SP		CIP		BGB		LdU		LPS		PdA		Dem		EPP		LSP
Aargau	13	3		4th		4th	+1	2
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	2	1		1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1					1
Basel-Country	4th	1		1		1	+1	1								0	−1
Basel city	8th	2		2		1				1		1		1
Bern	33	6th		12	−2	2		11		2	+2
Freiburg	7th	1	−1	1		4th		1	+1
Geneva	8th	3		1	+1	1						1	−1	2
Glarus 2	2	1		1
Grisons	6th	1				3										2
Lucerne	9	3		1		5
Neuchâtel	5	2		2								1
Nidwalden	1					1
Obwalden	1					1
Schaffhausen 2	2	1		1
Schwyz	3	0	−1	1		2	+1
Solothurn	7th	3		2		2
St. Gallen	13	4th		2		6th				1
Ticino	7th	3		1		3
Thurgau	6th	1		2		1		2
Uri	1	1
Vaud	16	7th	+1	4th	+1	1	+1	1				2	−1	1	−2
Valais	7th	1	−1	1	+1	5
train	2	1				1
Zurich	32	5	+1	9		3		5	+1	6th				1		2		1		0	−1
Switzerland	196	51	−1	49	+1	48	+4	23	+2	10	+2	5	−2	5	−2	4th	−1	1	± 0	0	−1

² silent choice

Results of the Council of States elections

The elected members of the Council of States are listed in Federal Gazette No. 48 of November 29, 1951.

Distribution of seats

4th

2

12

3

18th

3

2

4th 2 12 3 18th 3 2 

A total of 44 seats

• SP : 4
• DP : 2
• FDP : 12
• LPS : 3
• KVP : 18
• BGB : 3
• Independent: 2

Political party	Elections 1951	Elections 1947
PLC	4th	5
CIP	18th	18th
LPS	3	2
FDP	12	11
DP	2	2
BGB	3	4th
Otherwise.	2	2

Elected Councils of State

Canton	1. Seat of the Council of States	2. Seat of the Council of States
Aargau	Hans Fricker , CIP (previously)	Ernst Speiser , FDP (new)
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Walter Ackermann , FDP (previously)	only one seat
Appenzell Innerrhoden	Armin Locher , KVP (previously)	only one seat
Basel-Country	Paul Brodbeck , FDP (previously)	only one seat
Basel city	Gustav Wenk , SP (previously)	only one seat
Bern	Georges Möckli , SP (new)	Jakob Rudolf Weber , BGB (previously)
Freiburg	Joseph Piller , KVP (new)	Maxim Quartenoud , CIP (previously)
Geneva	Adrien Lachenal , FDP (new)	Albert-Edouard Picot , LPS (new)
Glarus	Melchior Hefti , DP (so far)	Rudolf Stüssi , non-party (previously)
Grisons	Albert Lardelli , DP (so far)	Josef Vieli , KVP (previously)
Lucerne	Gotthard Egli , KVP (previously)	Franz-Karl Status , KVP (previously)
Neuchâtel	Jean-Louis Barrelet , FDP (previously)	Sydney de Coulon , LPS (new)
Nidwalden	Werner Christen , non-party (previously)	only one seat
Obwalden	Ludwig von Moos , KVP (previously)	only one seat
Schaffhausen	Ernst Lieb , BGB (previously)	Kurt Schoch , FDP (previously)
Schwyz	Dominik Auf der Maur , CIP (new)	Fritz Stähli , KVP (previously)
Solothurn	Paul Häfelin , FDP (previously)	Gottfried Klaus , SP (previously)
St. Gallen	Ernst Flükiger , FDP (previously)	Johann Schmuki , KVP (previously)
Ticino	Antonio Antognini , KVP (previously)	Bixio Bossi , FDP (previously)
Thurgau	Jakob Müller , FDP (new)	Erich Ullmann , BGB (previously)
Uri	Ludwig Danioth , KVP (previously)	Josef Indergand , KVP (new)
Vaud	Gabriel Despland , FDP (so far)	Frédéric Fauquex , LPS (previously)
Valais	Alfred Clausen , KVP (previously)	Maurice Troillet , KVP (previously)
train	Augustin Lusser , KVP (previously)	Alois Zehnder , CIP (new)
Zurich	Emil Klöti , SP (previously)	Ernst Vaterlaus , FDP (so far)

Political groups in the 34th 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
Catholic Conservative Group	66	48	18th
Radical Democratic Group (FDP)	63	51	12
social democratic group	53	49	4th
Farmers, trades and citizens' factions	26th	23	3
Fraction of the state ring	10	10	0
Liberal Democratic Group	8th	5	3
Democratic and Protestant parliamentary groups	7th	5	2
without party affiliation	7th	5	2

Web links

• Federal Gazette No. 48 of November 29, 1951 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 724–800
4. ^ Members of the Council of States, pages 801–803
5. ^ Parliamentary groups since 1912