Act on the Proportional Election of the Cantonal Parliament (Proportional Representation Act) (Proporzgesetz)

1. This law governs the election of the district councilor according to the system of proportional representation.

2. It applies to the municipal communities entitled to the corresponding number of district councilors according to Article 88, Paragraph 1 of the Cantonal Constitution.

3. Each municipal community constitutes an electoral district.

4. Unless this law expressly provides otherwise, the Law on Secret Elections, Voting, and Popular Rights (RB 2.1201) is applicable.

1. At least 15 eligible voters residing in the municipality may submit a nomination proposal to the municipal council.

1. At least three months before the election Sunday, the Government Council sets the election date and calls for the submission of election proposals in the Official Gazette.

2. The election proposals must be submitted to the Municipal Council no later than the tenth Monday before the election Sunday.

1. An electoral proposal may contain no more names of eligible persons than there are district councilors to be elected in the municipality, and no name more than twice. If an electoral proposal contains more names, the last ones will be removed.

2. The electoral proposals must specify for each proposed person

a) Official surname and first name

b) The name by which the person is politically or commonly known

c) Date of birth

d) Residential address

1. Each electoral proposal must carry an appropriate designation (party or voter group designation) that distinguishes it from other electoral proposals.

1. The nomination paper must be signed by the submitting individuals in handwriting.

2. An eligible voter may not sign more than one nomination paper. They cannot withdraw their signature once the nomination paper has been submitted.

1. The signatories shall designate a representative of the election proposal and their deputy. If they refrain from doing so, the persons whose names appear first and second in the order of the signatories shall be deemed to be the representative and deputy, respectively.

2. The representative and, if they are unable to act, their deputy, are authorized and obliged to make legally binding declarations on behalf of the signatories necessary to resolve any issues.

1. The election proposals are available for inspection at the municipal office until the Wednesday ten days before the election Sunday. Until this time, objections to the defects in the election proposals can be raised.

1. The municipal council shall inform the nominated individuals in writing without delay about their nomination.

2. If a nominated individual is not obliged to accept an office (RB 2.2221), they may request the removal of their name from the list of candidates in writing from the municipal council by no later than the ninth-to-last Monday before the election Sunday.

1. If the name of the proposed person appears on more than one nomination proposal, the municipal council shall promptly request them to declare, by the tenth-last Friday before election Sunday, on which of these proposals their name should appear. If no declaration is made, the municipal council will decide this by drawing lots. This name must be removed from the other nomination proposals.

1. The municipal council examines whether the election proposals meet the legal requirements and whether the signatures are valid.

2. It strikes the names of ineligible candidates and sets a deadline for the representative of the signatories until the ninth Monday before the election Sunday, within which they can submit replacement proposals for officially struck proposed persons, improve the designation of proposed persons, or change the designation of the election proposal for the purpose of clear distinction from other proposals.

3. If a defect is not remedied within the deadline, the election proposal is invalid. If the defect only affects a proposed person, then only their name will be struck.

1. The corrected election proposals are called lists. List connections are excluded.

2. The municipal council submits the lists with the designation chosen by the submitters to the cantonal office for publication in the official gazette no later than the ninth Wednesday before election Sunday.

1. Multiple lists with the same designation form a list group within the canton.

2. If a list is submitted only in one municipality, this list is also considered a list group.

3. The Cantonal Office of Civil Affairs resolves discrepancies in the list designations and the formation of list groups in collaboration with the list representatives. If no agreement is reached, the Cantonal Office of Civil Affairs makes the decision.

4. Lists of the same list group are assigned the same list number. The list number is drawn by lot by the Cantonal Office of Civil Affairs. The drawing is public.

5. The Cantonal Office of Civil Affairs publishes the lists in the Official Gazette.

1. The municipalities prepare official ballots for all lists, which include the list name, order number, and candidate details (at least surname, first name, year of birth, and residential address) pre-printed, as well as official ballots without pre-printing. They list the candidates in the same order as they appear on the finalized proposals.

2. The municipalities provide voters with a complete set of ballots in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Secret Elections, Voting, and Popular Rights (RB 2.1201).

3. The signatories may obtain additional pre-printed ballots from the municipal office at cost price.

1. Official ballots must be used for voting.

1. Anyone using a ballot without a template can enter the names of candidates who appear on a list published by the civil registry office and apply the list designation or identification number of a list.

2. Anyone using a ballot with a template can cross out preprinted candidate names; they can enter candidate names from other lists (cross-list voting). Furthermore, they can cross out or replace the preprinted identification number and list designation.

3. They can list the same candidate's name twice on the ballot (cumulative voting).

4. Ballots without a template must be filled out by hand. Ballots with a template may only be altered manually.

1. Votes for candidates who have passed away since the finalization of the lists are counted as candidate votes.

1. If a ballot contains fewer valid candidate votes than the number of members of the cantonal council to be elected in the municipal community, the blank lines shall count as additional votes for the list whose designation or order number is specified on the ballot. If the designation and order number are missing, or if the ballot contains more than one list designation or order number, the blank lines do not count.

2. Names not appearing on any list in the respective electoral district shall be deleted. However, votes cast for such names shall count as additional votes if the ballot carries a list designation or order number. In the absence of such, these votes do not count.

3. In the event of a conflict between the list designation and the order number, the list designation prevails.

1. Ballots are invalid if they

a) do not contain at least one name of a candidate listed on an official list

b) are not official

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

d) contain defamatory statements or obvious markings

e) if voting by mail, were posted at a foreign postal facility

2. If the name of a candidate appears more than twice on a ballot, the extra repetitions are removed. The lines that become free are considered additional votes.

3. If a ballot contains more names than there are seats to be filled, the last names are struck out.

1. Upon the conclusion of the election, the polling station records in a protocol

a) the number of eligible voters and those who voted

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

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

d) the number of additional votes for each list

e) the sum of candidate and additional votes for each list (party votes)

f) * ...

g) the number of blank votes

1. The allocation of mandates is carried out by the State Chancellery.

2. If multiple solutions arise during the over- or under-allocation which equally meet the conditions mentioned in Articles 23 and 24, the State Chancellery decides by lot.

1. The number of votes a party list receives is divided by the number of seats to be allocated in the electoral district in question. This results in the voter number of the list.

2. In each list group, the voter numbers of the lists are added together. The sum is divided by the regional election key and rounded to the nearest whole number. This gives the number of mandates for the respective list group.

1. The number of party votes for a list is divided by the electoral district divisor and the list group divisor and then rounded to the nearest whole number. This determines the number of seats for that list.

2. The Office of Civil Status shall establish an electoral district divisor for each electoral district and a list group divisor for each list group, so that by proceeding according to paragraph 1

a) each electoral district receives the seats allocated to it by the government council, and

b) each list group receives the number of mandates to which it is entitled according to the primary allocation.

1. The mandates allocated to a list shall be distributed among the candidates according to the number of votes received by each candidate. In the event of an equal number of votes, the candidate first named on the list shall receive the mandate.

2. The non-elected candidates shall serve as substitutes in the order of the votes received by each candidate.

1. If a list is allocated more seats than it presents candidates, a substitute election for the excess seats shall take place pursuant to Article 30.

1. In municipalities where no electoral proposal has been submitted, an election pursuant to paragraph 3 shall take place on the election day. Seats filled in this manner shall be excluded from the allocation of mandates in accordance with Article 22 et seq.

2. If seats cannot be filled during the allocation of mandates in a municipality, a by-election pursuant to paragraph 3 shall take place.

3. In these elections, votes can be cast for any eligible person. The individual who receives the most votes is elected.

1. If a member of the district council departs before the end of their term of office, the municipal council declares the first substitute from the same list as elected.

2. In the event of the death or ineligibility of a substitute, the next person in line replaces them.

3. The provisions of the Law on the Appointment of Authorities (RB 2.2221) must be observed.

1. If a seat cannot be filled by succession, the municipal council shall order a by-election for the member who has left.

2. If multiple seats are to be filled simultaneously, the by-election shall be conducted according to the proportional representation method in accordance with the provisions of this law. If only one seat is to be filled, the by-election shall be conducted in accordance with the majority voting procedure pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Secret Ballots, Votes, and People's Rights (RB 2.1201).

1. The Government Council issues instructions to the municipalities before each general election of the Cantonal Parliament, particularly regarding the design, sorting, and processing of ballots, the completion of forms, and the determination of results.

1a. For important reasons, the Government Council can amend the dates specified in this law in the instructions regarding the general election of the Cantonal Parliament when calling for elections.

2. Furthermore, it provides the necessary counting forms to the polling offices.

1. This law is subject to a referendum.

2. It shall enter into force on January 1, 1992.