# Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Candidate Voting System (131.731)

**Acronyms:** EDV
**Jurisdiction:** CH-AG
**Canonical URL:** https://legislator.ch/en/law/ch/ag/131.731/131-731-edv-ordinance-on-the-election-of-the-local-council-candidate-voting-system
**Official Source:** https://ag.clex.ch/app/de/texts_of_law/131.731

## Provisions

### § 1 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Candidate Voting System

1. The municipal council is elected by the candidate vote system.

2. Each eligible voter has as many votes as there are mandates to be granted in the electoral district. Each vote for a candidate counts for the party to which they belong.

### § 1a Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council

1. The personal and functional designations used in this regulation refer to both genders.

### § 2 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Periodic General Renewal

2. The general renewal election of the residents' council takes place every four years. It can coincide with the election day of the renewal election of the municipal council.

### § 3 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Electoral Districts

1. For the conduct of municipal council elections at the ballot box, the municipality constitutes an electoral district.

2. The municipal code may provide for the formation of multiple electoral districts.

3. In the case of municipal mergers, the merger agreement may provide for the temporary formation of multiple electoral districts.

### § 3a Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Allocation of Mandates to Electoral Districts

1. In the case of an election in multiple electoral districts, the number of persons residing in an electoral district is divided by the allocation divisor and rounded to the nearest whole number. The result indicates the number of mandates to be awarded in the respective electoral district.

2. The basis for calculating the allocation of mandates to electoral districts is the population number as of December 31st of the year preceding the election year.

3. The allocation divisor is determined in such a way that, in the procedure described in paragraph 1, all mandates to be awarded in the municipality are distributed.

4. If there are equal rounding possibilities, the decision is made by drawing lots.

5. The municipal council undertakes the allocation of mandates before each election.

### § 4 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Arrangement of the Elections

1. The complete renewal elections of the municipal councils are ordered by the government council.

2. The municipal council sets the election day.

### § 5 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Leadership and Supervision

1. Responsible for conducting and overseeing the election is the municipal election office.

2. General supervision is the responsibility of the Department of Economic Affairs and Interior.

### § 6 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Electronic Data Processing Evaluation; Guidelines

1. Municipalities determine the election results using the computer program provided by the canton in exchange for an appropriate cost contribution. The amount of the cost contribution is determined by the State Chancellery, taking into account the expenses for each election.

2. The State Chancellery issues guidelines for the recording and evaluation of the election for the benefit of the polling stations.

### § 8 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Drawing of Lots

1. Insofar as decisions are to be made by lot, the election office is responsible.

### § 9 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Election Proposals

1. Election proposals must be submitted in writing to the electoral office no later than the 62nd day (penultimate Monday) before the election day (main election day).

2. An election proposal may contain no more names of eligible persons than there are members of the municipal council to be elected in the electoral district. No name may be listed more than once. Any excess names will be deleted.

3. The election proposal must bear an appropriate designation that distinguishes it from other election proposals. Proposals with insufficient or improper designations will be rejected.

### § 10 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Candidates

1. The nomination must include: name, first name, year of birth, profession, and address of the nominees, as well as their signed confirmation that they accept the candidacy.

2. If the name of an eligible person appears on more than one nomination, the electoral office shall immediately request them to declare on which nomination their name should appear. If such a declaration is not made by the 58th day (the ninth Friday before the election day) before election day, the name will be removed from all nominations.

3. The electoral office verifies the eligibility of the candidates.

### § 11 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Signatories

1. The nomination paper must be signed by at least 15 eligible voters residing in the electoral district.

2. An eligible voter may not sign more than one nomination paper. Once the nomination paper has been submitted, they cannot withdraw their signature. Nominated individuals are not permitted to sign the nomination paper on which they are listed.

3. The election office shall verify the eligibility of the signatories.

### § 12 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Representatives of the List of Candidates

1. The signatories of the nomination proposal must designate a representative and a deputy for communication with the authorities. Otherwise, the first signatory shall be deemed the representative and the second signatory the deputy.

2. The representative is authorized and obligated to make legally binding declarations in the name of the signatories that are necessary to resolve any objections.

### § 13 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Revision of the Electoral Proposals

1. The election office reviews the election proposals and sets a deadline for the representative of the signatories, within which they can rectify any defects in the election proposal, amend designations that might lead to confusion, and submit substitute proposals for candidates who have been officially removed.

2. The proposed substitutes must declare in writing that they accept the candidacy. If this declaration is missing, if the name already appears on another election proposal, or if the candidate is not eligible for election, the substitute proposal is removed.

3. If a defect is not rectified within the deadline, the election proposal is invalid. If the defect only concerns one proposed candidate, only that candidate's name will be removed.

4. No changes to the election proposals may be made after the 55th day (the eighth last Monday) before the election day.

### § 14 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Lists, Numbering

1. The adjusted electoral proposals are referred to as lists.

2. The lists are numbered with Arabic numerals. The numbering of individual lists is determined according to the number of votes decisive for the distribution of seats that the lists received in the last general election, with the list receiving the highest number of votes being assigned No. 1. In the event of an equal number of votes, the numbering is determined by drawing lots.

3. Newly submitted lists receive the numbers not yet assigned to existing lists. The allocation is decided by drawing lots.

4. For the initial conduct of the municipal council election, the timing of the submission of electoral proposals is decisive for numbering. In the event of simultaneous submission of electoral proposals, the decision is made by drawing lots.

### § 15 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - List Connections

1. List alliances are excluded.

### § 16 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Publication, Printing and Delivery of Ballots

1. The election office publicly announces the lists with their designations and order numbers no later than 21 days before election day.

2. By the same deadline, the election office arranges for the ballot papers to be printed on paper of the same color and size. In areas with multiple electoral districts, the ballot papers may have different colors and sizes depending on the electoral district.

3. The delivery of a complete set of all ballots for the electoral district to the eligible voters must occur no later than 10 days before election day.

4. ...

### § 18 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Exercise of Voting Rights

1. The eligible voter may exercise their voting right only with an official ballot paper.

2. They may strike out printed candidate names, enter such names from other lists (vote-splitting), and/or write the name of the same candidate twice on the ballot (cumulative voting).

3. The list designation and order number may be struck out or replaced by others. If the list designation and order number do not match, the list designation prevails.

4. The eligible voter may enter the names of eligible candidates on a ballot without a pre-printed form, as well as affix the list designation and/or order number of a list.

5. If a ballot, after adjustments, contains fewer candidate votes than there are council members to be elected in the electoral district, the blank lines count as additional votes for the list whose designation or order number is indicated on the ballot. If the designation and order number are missing or the ballot contains more than one of the submitted list designations or order numbers, the blank lines do not count (blank votes).

### § 19 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Control Stamp

1. The ballot paper shall be affixed with a control stamp on the reverse side by a member of the polling station at the polling place.

### § 20 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Voting Secrecy

1. The election office ensures that voter secrecy is maintained when the ballot is submitted.

### § 21 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Invalid Ballots

1. Ballots are invalid if they

a) are not official,

b) do not include the name of a constituency candidate,

c) are filled out or altered in a manner other than handwritten,

d) contain defamatory statements,

e) do not comply with the regulations issued for voting by mail,

f) do not bear an official stamp imprint.

### § 22 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Sorting of Ballots

1. After the removal of the ballots from the ballot box, all ballots must be sorted into valid and invalid categories.

2. The valid ballots must be sorted according to list designations or serial numbers into unchanged and altered categories.

### § 23 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Cleaning of Ballots

1. The altered ballots of each list are to be corrected for content.

2. For this purpose, the following are to be struck off

a) Candidate names written more than twice,

b) * Names not listed on any ballot list of the constituency,

c) Illegible names or inaccurately designated candidates,

d) * On ballots with more names than seats to be filled in the constituency: the last surplus names. Strike-offs are conducted from bottom to top and from right to left.

3. The strike-offs are to be executed with a red pen. The letter W (Election Office) must be marked for identification.

### § 24 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Tallying of Ballots

2. Names that do not appear on any constituency list shall be removed. However, the votes for these names shall be counted as additional votes if the ballot paper bears a list designation or order number. If such designation or number is missing, these votes shall not be counted (void votes).

### § 27 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Seat Allocation a) Allocation to the Lists or List Groups

1. In elections in municipalities with a single electoral district, the number of party votes for a list is divided by the municipal election key and rounded to the nearest whole number. The result indicates the number of seats for the respective list. A subdivision according to § 27a does not take place.

2. In elections in municipalities with multiple electoral districts, lists with the same designation within the municipal area form a list group.

3. In elections in municipalities with multiple electoral districts, the number of party votes for a list is divided by the number of mandates to be allocated in the respective electoral district. The result is referred to as the voting number of the list. In each list group, the voting numbers of the lists are added together. The sum is divided by the municipal election key and rounded to the nearest whole number. The result indicates the number of seats for the respective list group.

4. The election office calculates the municipal election key in such a way that the procedure according to paragraph 1 or 3 results in the exact number of seats to be allocated in the municipality.

5. In the event of equally balanced rounding possibilities, the decision is made by lot.

### § 27a Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - b) Subdivision on the Lists

1. In elections within municipalities with multiple electoral districts, the party vote count for a list is divided by the electoral district divisor and the list group divisor, then rounded to the nearest whole number. The result determines the number of seats for that list.

2. The election office establishes an electoral district divisor for each electoral district and a list group divisor for each list group in such a way that, according to the procedure outlined in paragraph 1

a) each electoral district receives the number of mandates assigned to it by the municipal council,

b) each list group receives the number of seats allocated to it according to the superior allocation.

3. In cases of equally possible rounding, the decision is made by drawing lots.

### § 29 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - c) Distribution of Seats within the Lists

1. The seats allocated to a list are distributed among the candidates based on the number of votes each candidate received. In the event of an equal number of votes, the seat is awarded to the person named first on the list.

2. The candidates who are not elected serve as substitutes in the order of the number of votes they received. If a seat cannot be filled, the election office declares the first substitute on the respective list as elected. If this person cannot or does not wish to assume office, the next substitute moves up.

3. If a list is allocated more seats than it has candidates, a supplementary election is conducted for the excess seats in the respective electoral district according to § 33a. The supplementary elections must be reported to the Department of Economic Affairs and Internal Affairs.

### § 30 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Election Result, Protocol

1. For the entire electoral district and for each electoral constituency, a protocol of the election result must be prepared, which records

a) * the number of eligible voters and the number of voters who voted;

b) * the number of valid, invalid, and blank ballots;

c) * the number of votes received by each candidate on each list (candidate votes);

d) * the number of additional votes for each list;

e) * the total of candidate and additional votes for each list (party votes);

f) * ...

g) * the number of blank votes.

2. The names of the elected and non-elected candidates from each list must be listed in order of the votes received.

3. The elected and non-elected candidates must be recorded with their last name and first name, year of birth, profession, and address.

4. The ballots are to be packed and sealed and kept along with the other records in the municipal archive.

### § 31 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Election Notice, Publication, Approval

1. The election office shall send a written notice to the elected individuals and request their acceptance of the election.

2. The election results and the names of the elected individuals must be published immediately after their determination by the election office, with an indication of the possibility of an appeal. The election results must be communicated to the Department of Economic Affairs and Interior.

3. If there is a suspicion of an incorrect election result, the Department of Economic Affairs and Interior shall order a recount.

### § 32 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Filing of Complaints

1. Complaints against orders and directives issued in preliminary proceedings, as well as against the election procedure and the determination of results, are decided by the Department of Economic Affairs and Home Affairs. Complaints must be submitted within three days from the delivery of the order, the awareness of the directive, or the publication of the election results. They do not have a suspensive effect.

2. The decision of the Department of Economic Affairs and Home Affairs can be appealed to the Administrative Court within 5 days.

### **§ 33 Ordinance on the Election of the Residents' Council** Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Replacement During the Term of Office**

1. If a member resigns from the municipal council during their term, the election office declares the person who received the most votes among the non-elected candidates on the relevant list as elected. In the event of an equal number of votes, the order of the candidates on the list determines the outcome.

2. If this candidate is unable or unwilling to assume the office, the next person in line takes their place.

### § 33a Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Supplementary Election

1. If a vacated seat cannot be filled by succession, the signatories of the list to which the departing council member belonged may submit a replacement proposal within a deadline set by the election office. This proposal requires the approval of at least eight of the original signatories.

2. The person proposed by the signatories of the list for the supplementary election shall, after formal examination of the proposal, be declared elected by the election office without a formal vote.

3. If the signatories of the original list do not exercise their right to make a proposal or cannot reach an agreement, the municipal council shall order a public election in the respective electoral district. If there is only one seat to be filled in the electoral district, the person receiving the most votes shall be deemed elected. In the event of a tie, the decision shall be made by drawing lots.

### § 34 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Repeal of Previous Laws

1. Upon the entry into force of this regulation, the Regulation on the Election of the Residents' Council of May 18, 1981, is repealed.

### § 35 Ordinance on the Election of the Local Council - Entry into Force

1. This Regulation shall be published in the Official Gazette. It shall enter into force on January 1, 1989.