Once again, almost two-thirds of Swiss voter have their say at the ballot box.
According to the latest projections (as of 3 p.m.), we expect a 65 per cent turnout today (+/- 2 per cent margin of error). Since the vote on women’s suffrage, only three other referendums have brought more voters to the polls.
This means that the average voter turnout in the last two years is significantly higher than the average since 2000. A major reason for the high voter turnout is the Corona pandemic, which has drawn a lot of attention to politics and the function of democracy. Every vote in the last two years is thus always also a referendum on the work of the authorities in connection with the pandemic.
In addition to Corona, the fact that social debates such as the climate issue or the gender equality issue are currently increasing interest in politics not only in Switzerland, but globally, probably also plays a role.
In addition, new forms of networking and mobilisation via social media are slowly but surely making themselves felt politically and are creating dynamic campaigns, communication and discussions. In November 2020, the NGOs took advantage of this in the case of the corporate responsibility initiative; in June 2021, the farming community took advantage of this in the case of the agricultural policy proposals; and now the opponents of the Covid proposal.
