Ordinance on the Act on Elections and Referendums (Wahlverordnung) - Publication

1. Election and voting dates must be published in the Cantonal Gazette for both cantonal and federal ballots.

2. For elections and votes concerning the municipal ballots of the residential communities of Bettingen and Riehen and the civic communities, the publication requirements as specified in their regulations shall apply.

3. The publication of elections must include information on the submission of election proposals, their legal requirements, and the deadlines to be observed.

1. If a nomination list contains more names than there are seats to be allocated or positions to be filled, the last names shall be deleted.

2. Section 39 of the Act also applies if a declaration of consent for a candidacy is present in accordance with Section 37 paragraph 1 letter d of the Act.

3. Order numbers shall be assigned to the nomination lists.

1. In proportional elections, the assignment of order numbers follows these criteria

a) Nomination lists from parties and groups that participated in the previous proportional election under the same name or with an undisputed claim of succession receive their accustomed order number.

b) All other parties and groups receive their order number according to the order of receipt of their nomination lists or based on a draw in case of simultaneous receipt.

c) The claim to an accustomed order number expires if a party or group has abstained from two consecutive cantonal proportional elections.

2. In majority elections, the order numbers are assigned according to the strength of the parties and groups in the Grand Council that support the nomination list. In the case of equal strength, a draw decides. Reserved remains § 2a. para. 3.

3. If only one office is to be filled in a majority election, the nomination list on which the current officeholder is standing for election receives the order number 1.

1. The voting certificate enables both personal voting at the ballot box and voting by mail.

2. The voting certificate is assigned a new identification number for each election.

3. The identification numbers may only be decrypted in connection with the verification of voting eligibility, complaints, or criminal incidents.

4. For eligible voters authorized for electronic voting according to the Ordinance on the Trial Operation for Electronic Voting dated May 26, 2009, the voting certificate additionally contains the individual codes for electronic voting.

1. In accordance with the official explanations pursuant to § 27 of the Act, the statement of the initiators' committee may be appended.

2. The State Chancellery determines the form and scope of the statement as well as the time of its submission.

3. The State Chancellery may amend or reject statements, particularly if they contain defamatory, false, or overly extensive expressions.

4. References to electronic sources may only be included in the voting explanations if the originator of the references declares in writing that these sources do not contain unlawful content and do not lead to electronic publications of unlawful content.

1. In the design of the voting and election materials, particular attention must be paid to the following criteria in accordance with Section 12b of the Act

a) Information through multiple sensory channels;

b) Optically adequate presentation;

c) Use of comprehensible language.

1. Eligible voters may file complaints regarding incorrect voting documents and incomplete election and voting materials with the State Chancellery or the municipal administrations of Bettingen or Riehen.

2. In accordance with § 5 paragraph 3 of the law, eligible voters may request a duplicate of voting documents not received or lost, which is generally to be collected in person from the State Chancellery or the municipal administrations. The duplicate will be issued upon signing a confirmation, which informs the eligible voters of the penalties for misuse.

3. If an eligible voter is unable to collect the duplicate in person due to a physical impairment, the duplicate will be delivered to them personally by the State Chancellery or the municipal administration upon request.

4. The issuance of duplicates must be recorded in a protocol.

1. Access to the electoral register is subject to data protection legislation. It may be restricted during election and voting days.

2. Transcriptions and the making of copies are not permitted.

3. Mass inquiries will not be provided.

1. The voting certificate serves as proof of suffrage for eligible voters.

2. Any person who wishes to participate in an election or referendum after moving to the canton of Basel-Stadt must fulfill the necessary requirements as per § 2 of the Act for registration in the electoral roll pursuant to § 4 of the Act.

3. Anyone who cannot be entered into the electoral roll due to the lack of these requirements will not receive a voting certificate and cannot exercise their right to vote.

1. During voting at the polls, the voting certificate as well as the election and voting ballots are submitted separately at the polling station.

2. In cases of doubt regarding voting eligibility, the presentation of personal identification may be required.

1. When voting by mail, the completed voting and election ballots, along with the voting certificate, must be placed in the return envelope, which should then be sealed. The portion of the voting certificate designated for postal voting should be used, allowing the voter to be identified only by a non-speaking code number.

2. The envelope must be handed over to the postal service early enough to ensure it arrives at the State Chancellery or municipal administration by 12:00 noon on the Saturday before the vote.

3. Envelopes that arrive later will, in any case, be disregarded.

**1. Voting by Proxy According to § 9 of the Law**

Voting by proxy in accordance with § 9 of the law is carried out with the voting certificate of the person unable to vote and a form authorizing a third party to perform the necessary actions for voting. The form must be requested from the State Chancellery or the competent municipal authority, stating the reason for the impediment.

**2. Responsibilities of the Authorized Third Party**

The third party entrusted with voting must record their name, residential address, and signature on the voting certificate and complete the ballots according to the instructions of the eligible voter.

**3. Confidentiality Obligation of the Third Party**

The third party must maintain confidentiality regarding the content of the instructions received.

1. Electronic voting is regulated in the Ordinance on the Test Operation for Electronic Voting.

1. In the city of Basel, three polling stations are available.

a) * ...

b) * ...

c) * ...

2. On polling weekends, the polling stations in the city of Basel are open as follows

a) Saturday, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM

b) Sunday, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

3. In the municipalities of Bettingen and Riehen, the municipal councils determine the opening hours of the polling stations.

1. For postal voting, secure rooms are established in the city at the State Chancellery and in the municipal administrations of Bettingen and Riehen.

2. Employees of the Elections and Voting Department of the State Chancellery and the municipal administrations ensure that only one vote is cast per eligible person, slit the response envelopes on three sides, and store them in a container.

3. They seal the container before leaving the secure room.

1. The management and order within the polling station are entrusted to an election office. The State Secretary in the city and the municipal administrator in the local municipalities appoint at least three eligible voters as members of the election office for each polling station, designating one member as the chairperson and another member as their deputy.

2. During the polling station's opening hours, three individuals are generally required to be present, including the chairperson or their deputy.

3. The chairperson or their deputy shall expel individuals who influence or obstruct eligible voters within the polling station or in its immediate vicinity.

4. If the orderly operation of the polling station or the maintenance of voting secrecy is impaired due to a large influx of eligible individuals or for any other reason, the chairperson or their deputy shall close the polling station until the cause of the disruption is resolved.

5. Anyone wishing to take radio, television, or film recordings in a polling station or visit a polling station as an individual or with a group out of civic interest must obtain permission from the State Chancellery or the municipal administration.

1. The members of the election office oversee the personal casting of votes and the protection of voting secrecy.

2. After receiving the voting right certificates, it is verified whether voting has already been conducted electronically or by mail. Then the election and voting ballots, or the voting sheet, are stamped according to § 12a paragraph 2 of the law and placed into the ballot boxes by the eligible voters.

3. If eligible voters wish to have their election and voting ballots filled out by a third party, a member of the election office must verify their incapacity in accordance with § 9 of the law.

1. If any ambiguities or questions of doubt arise regarding the voting and decision-making procedures concerning the voting rights certificates and the ballots, the election office management shall decide on the matter.

2. In important matters, the entire office shall make the decision by majority vote. In the event of a tie, the management shall decide.

3. Decisions made pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 must be recorded in the minutes.

1. The Head of the Department of Elections and Voting at the State Chancellery shall oversee the Central Electoral Office.

2. The Central Electoral Office also includes

a) the staff members of the Department of Elections and Voting at the State Chancellery;

b) the deputies of the Head, appointed by the State Secretary; and

c) additional members appointed by the State Secretary.

3. The Head of the Central Electoral Office is entitled, in consultation with the State Secretary, to involve experts.

1. After the closing of the polling stations on voting Saturday, the ballots deposited up to that time shall be removed from the ballot boxes, the stamps checked, and the determination of the results prepared. The ballots deposited on voting Sunday shall be removed from the ballot boxes after the closing of the polling stations and the stamps checked.

2. ...

1. Invalid are ballots and voting slips that are filled out through duplication processes or are not official or contain defamatory remarks. They are also invalid if they or the ballot sheet are not stamped according to § 12 para. 2.

1bis. Official federal voting slips are valid, even if the corresponding federal voting template is listed on a ballot sheet according to § 12a para. 2 of the law. The provisions of § 18 paras. 3 and 4 remain reserved.

2. ...

3. Names or other designations that are written unclearly but, according to the impartial decision of the election office, clearly identify a specific eligible person, are considered valid votes.

4. Names that are not further specified and may refer to multiple eligible persons are only to be treated as valid votes if only one person proposed for election bears that name.

5. Ballots that contain only invalid votes according to § 19 of the law are disregarded in the calculation of the absolute majority according to § 70 of the law.

6. Blank ballots and voting slips contain no name or list designation or response on either the front or back.

7. Ballots and voting slips that are completely crossed out are considered blank.

7bis. In majority votes, the following are considered blank votes

a) pre-printed names not crossed, and

b) pre-printed names or names written on blank lines that have been crossed out.

8. In the event of a contradiction between list designation and serial number, the list designation prevails.

1. The polling stations and, where applicable insofar as it conducts the vote counting, the central electoral office determine and record the election and voting results according to these criteria.

1. The protocol contains

a) the total number of voting rights certificates issued;

b) the number of submitted election and voting ballots;

c) the number of blank election and voting ballots;

d) the number of invalid election and voting ballots;

e) the number of valid election and voting ballots;

f) the number of affirmative and negative votes in ballots;

g) the result of the tie-breaker question in contingent voting according to § 28 IRG;

h) in majority elections, the number of blank, invalid, and valid votes;

i) in proportional elections, the number of blank, invalid, and valid unaltered and altered lists;

j) decisions in accordance with § 13.

2. In majority elections, persons not proposed are listed by name only if they receive more than one hundred votes.

3. All election and voting materials, as well as the signed protocol, are submitted to the central election office.

1. On the voting Saturday, the ballot papers and voting cards received by mail are removed from the reply envelopes starting at 8:00 AM, and the results of the postal voting in the city are determined and recorded by the central electoral office, and in Bettingen and Riehen by the respective electoral offices, provided the local municipalities conduct the count themselves.

2. When opening the reply envelopes, it is checked whether only one ballot paper and voting card per election or vote is contained therein.

3. If there are multiple ballot papers and voting cards for an election or vote with the same content, only one ballot paper and voting card will be considered. The surplus ballot paper and voting card will not be considered.

4. If the contents of the ballot papers and voting cards are different, all ballot papers and voting cards will be treated as an invalid vote in accordance with § 19 lit. a of the law.

5. Following this, sorting according to election and, if no voting sheets pursuant to § 12a para. 2 of the law are used, according to voting proposals is carried out to prepare for recording.

6. The electoral offices of the local municipalities Bettingen and Riehen transmit the voting documents and, insofar as they conduct the count themselves, the results of the postal voting and the signed protocols to the central electoral office on the voting Saturday.

7. ...

1. The determination of the results of the personal voting in the polling stations takes place at the earliest on the voting Sunday from 8:00 a.m.

1. To the extent that the voting offices of the city of Basel and the municipalities of Bettingen and Riehen conduct the counting of the votes themselves, they transmit the results of the voting to the Central Electoral Office, which, under the supervision of the State Chancellery, checks and compiles these for accuracy.

2. In the first round of majoritarian elections, the Central Electoral Office calculates the absolute majority.

3. In proportional representation elections, the Central Electoral Office determines the distribution of seats and the elected individuals.

4. The head of the Central Electoral Office calculates the overall result of postal voting as well as the cantonal final result and reports both to the State Chancellery.

1. The Central Electoral Office prepares the respective final protocols for both majoritarian and proportional elections, as well as for referendums.

2. The final protocols contain the number of eligible voters and the voter turnout, which is calculated from the ballots cast.

3. The signed final protocols, along with the election and referendum protocols from the polling stations, are submitted to the State Chancellery, which publishes the results in the Cantonal Gazette.

4. The Central Electoral Office notifies each elected person of their election.

1. Upon application by the Presidential Department, the Executive Council shall elect at least three commissioners for its term of office. In the event of new appointments, the Presidential Department shall publicly advertise the position.

2. The election shall be published.

3. The commissioners shall perform the tasks outlined in § 13 and § 79 paragraph 2 of the law.

1. Before the commencement of the voting process, the members of the electoral office must ensure that the ballot boxes are empty.

2. The ballot boxes must be equipped with a sealable lid. If the voting process is interrupted or if ballot boxes containing election and voting slips are transported to another polling station, the lid and the insertion slot must be sealed.

3. An intact control mark designated for this purpose must be placed in the control window of the ballot boxes. The control mark bears the signatures of two members of the electoral office.

4. The election and voting slips removed and verified from the ballot boxes on the voting Saturday are placed into an empty ballot box with a control mark on Saturday evening. The ballot box is sealed and taken into secure custody.

1. Prior to the commencement of the voting process, the members of the election committee must ascertain whether the control stamps have been securely stored and are undamaged. The same applies analogously after an interruption and at the conclusion of the voting process.

1. Rooms in which voting and ballot materials are prepared for determining the results shall be locked and additionally sealed upon being vacated.

1. Election and voting documents shall be stored in a secure location until validation and thereafter destroyed.

1. The representatives of the government council and the experts engaged by the central electoral office pursuant to § 13a para. 3 shall receive the following flat-rate compensation for their collaboration

a) * Per hour: CHF 50

1. The chairperson and their deputy, as well as the members of the electoral offices, are compensated for their participation in elections and votes as follows

a) Chairperson: CHF 50 per hour

b) Member: CHF 35 per hour

2. The custodians of the polling stations receive the following flat-rate compensation for their duties

a) Per election/vote CHF 170

1. The Executive Council periodically reviews the compensation rates for their appropriateness and adjusts them if necessary.

2. Sections 13 and 14 of the directive concerning the disbursement of meeting allowances dated February 5, 2002, also apply to the compensations regulated in Sections 26 and 27.

1. All individuals entrusted with the conduct of the voting and election procedure, as well as with the voting and election results, shall maintain the confidentiality of the voting and election process.

1. During the determination of the election and voting results, no one except the members of the election offices and the representatives of the government council may be present in the polling station. Unauthorized persons must be prohibited from entering.

1. The civic community of the City of Basel, as well as upon request and with the consent of the State Secretary, the resident communities, other civic communities, and additional public bodies according to § 3 paragraph 1 of the Information and Data Protection Act, are supported by the Elections and Voting Department of the State Chancellery in the preparation and conduct of their elections and voting.

2. The costs incurred by the State Chancellery in this regard are to be reimbursed by the applicant.

1. The Presidential Department issues supplementary instructions to the members of the electoral offices.

1. The Ordinance concerning the Compensation of the Members, Secretaries, and Custodians of the Election Offices, as well as the Representatives of the Government Council for Elections and Referendums dated January 31, 1989, is repealed.