The Parliament Hall in Winterthur is to be renovated. To this end, a loan of CHF 371,000 was legally authorized in 2021. This is intended for structural renovations, new furniture, and a simple reinstallation of audiovisual (AV) equipment. This latest expansion includes a voting system on each desk, a semi-automatic camera system and a new WLAN.
Best camera system for live streams
With this, among other things, a complete system for conferencing and voting should be purchased. Each member of parliament should be given a tablet, which the parliamentary leadership can use to release microphones or initiate presentations. Furthermore, all protocols should be automatically transcribed. In addition, a fully automatic camera system should be procured, in which the camera pans the person speaking. The people of Eulachstadt should be able to follow the debates live stream or follow the online voting afterwards.
In the voting newspaper, the additional credit was justified on the one hand with “modern parliamentary operations”. Communication between the presidency of the parliament and meeting participants will be improved through two-way data transmission, made more efficient and can also be done online, he said. On the other hand, the new system also promotes democratic transparency. “The continued availability online will make it much easier for the population, media professionals and school classes to access the deliberations of the city parliament.”
Sunk with 62.8% without votes
But the voters did not follow these arguments. On 25 September the bill “Modern technology in the hall of the municipal parliament” and therefore the additional loan was clearly rejected with 62.8% of votes against.
In a statement, the parliamentary leadership writes that the renovation of the hall will now be implemented with “simple technology previously approved”. This brings “at least some progress compared to today”. The refurbishment of the Hall of Parliament is expected to be completed in the course of 2023.
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