Voting in Switzerland in September: These communities stand out

The third vote of the year is in the bag. It quickly became clear that both the biodiversity initiative and the BVG reform would be rejected. And yet there were communities that stood out.

22.09.2024, 17:4722.09.2024, 21:12

Switzerland is made up of 2131 municipalities. Voting at this level is a particularly good way to highlight differences. That’s why we have selected the fastest, slowest and most extreme municipalities in the September 2024 vote:

The fastest communities

In most Swiss communities, voting is possible until 12 noon, but some Aargau communities close their polls at 10 a.m.Image: keystone

As always, it is the people of Aargau who can hardly wait to finish work on Sunday. This time it was the municipality of Münchwilen, which announced its results shortly after 11.30 a.m. The BVG reform was rejected with 181 votes against and 79 in favor. The biodiversity initiative was also rejected with 191 votes against and 68 in favor.

The most extreme communities

But which municipalities voted most strongly for or against the biodiversity initiative and the BVG reform? They are these:

Biodiversity Initiative

Climate protection initiatives have a hard time in Switzerland. The biodiversity initiative was no exception. It only found a majority in very few communities. The most clear approval was in the city of Bern. Here, 68 percent of voters said yes. The least popular request was in Zwischbergen in the canton of Valais. Here, not a single one of the 31 voters said yes.

BVG-Reform

The reform of occupational pensions also had a difficult time. Nevertheless, there were individual municipalities that accepted the proposal. The strongest approval was in Stettlen in the canton of Bern (64 percent yes). The smallest approval rate (13 percent) for the proposal was in the municipality of Schlatt-Haslen in Appenzell-Innerrhoden.

The most committed community

Neither proposal was able to attract large numbers of people to the polls. Voter turnout remained average throughout Switzerland. In Rumendingen in the canton of Bern, however, 78 percent (54 people) of eligible voters went to the polls.

The biodiversity initiative and the BVG reform were of least interest in the municipality of Cama in Graubünden. Here, only just under a quarter of those eligible to vote cast their votes.

The sloppiest community

The largest number of invalid ballot papers was in Neuhausen am Rheinfall. 273 people failed to fill out their envelopes correctly. That’s almost nine percent of all voters.