Act on the Proportional Representation Election of the Landrat (Proportional Representation Act, PropG) (Proporzgesetz; PropG) - Principle (PropG)

1. Elections for the cantonal council are to be conducted in accordance with the legislation by the canton and the political municipalities.

2. Elections for the cantonal council are held through a ballot vote, separate from the municipal assembly, according to the system of proportional representation.

1. The district council elections must be conducted by April 15th of the year in which the term of office of the district council comes to an end.

2. The government council must set the election day for the entire canton area by October of the year preceding the election at the latest.

3. The provisions of Art. 29 apply to by-elections.

1. The government council sets the deadlines for the submission of election proposals, the public disclosure, and the objections to the election proposals.

2. The deadlines are to be set in such a way that the finalization of the election proposals can be completed at least 20 days before the election.

3. The deadlines, including the indication of their expiration date, are to be published by the government council in the official gazette alongside the announcement of the election day.

4. The deadline is considered met if the submission arrives at the designated office by 12:00 p.m. on the last day of the deadline.

1. A nomination proposal must be submitted by at least five active citizens.

1. Nomination proposals must be submitted to the municipal office within the deadline.

2. Submitted nomination proposals cannot be withdrawn.

1. An electoral proposal may contain no more names of eligible persons than there are seats to be allocated by the municipality.

2. If an electoral proposal contains more names, the last ones shall be deleted.

3. If the same name is listed more than twice, the excess repetitions shall be deleted.

4. The proposed individuals must be identified in the electoral proposal with their last name, first name, year of birth, occupation, and residential address.

1. Each electoral proposal must bear a designation suitable for its distinction from other electoral proposals.

1. Each electoral proposal must bear the signature of at least five active citizens, providing their own name, first name, year of birth, and residential address.

2. Each active citizen may cosign only one electoral proposal per election; the signature cannot be withdrawn. The signature on further electoral proposals is invalid.

3. The signatories must also designate a representative for the electoral proposal; if an explicit designation is missing, the first signatory is considered the representative.

4. The representative is authorized and obligated to make legally binding declarations on behalf of the signatories necessary to remedy deficiencies.

1. Each nominated person must confirm in writing on the electoral proposal that they accept a potential election.

2. The names of individuals not subject to mandatory office will be removed if confirmation is missing; Art. 11 is applicable.

1. If the name of a person appears on more than one nomination list, they must declare, upon request by the municipal office, on which of these nomination lists their name should appear.

2. If they do not provide a declaration by 12:00 PM on the Monday following the last possible day for submitting nomination lists, it will be decided by lot on which nomination list their name should appear.

1. The municipal office sets a deadline of 3 days in writing for the representatives, but no later than 12:00 noon on the following Monday after the last possible day for the submission of election proposals, to rectify any deficiencies or to submit replacement candidates for those officially disqualified.

2. Those proposed as replacements must confirm in writing that they accept a potential election.

3. If this declaration is missing, or if the relevant name already appears on another election proposal, or if the proposed person is not eligible, the replacement proposal will be deleted.

4. If a deficiency is not rectified within the deadline, the election proposal is invalid; if the deficiency concerns only individual candidates proposed, only those names will be deleted.

1. The municipal council confirms the revised election proposals and makes them available for public inspection at the municipal office during the specified period.

2. Concurrently with the public notification, the municipal office must inform each proposed individual of their nomination in writing.

3. Objections to the validity of the election proposal, the eligibility of the nominees, the voting rights of the signatories, and the authenticity of the signatures must be submitted in writing, with reasons, to the municipal office for the attention of the municipal council within the specified period.

1. The Municipal Council decides on the objections.

2. The decision of the Municipal Council can be appealed to the Government Council within 3 days of delivery.

3. The decision of the Government Council can be appealed to the Constitutional Court within 3 days of delivery.

1. The adjusted election proposals are called lists.

2. List connections are excluded.

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

2. Lists are treated as a list group if

1. the signatories of the lists have submitted a corresponding written declaration to the cantonal voting office;

2. all lists originate from different electoral districts; and

3. the lists bear the same designation.

3. If a list exists only in one electoral district, it also forms a list group.

4. The signatories of the lists reconcile linguistic differences in the list designations in collaboration with the municipal voting office.

5. If lists with the same designation are submitted that, according to para. 1, are not to be treated as a list group, the signatories of the lists are asked to provide them with different designations. If they cannot reach an agreement, the cantonal voting office assigns different designations to the lists.

1. The municipal council prepares ballot papers for all lists, on which the list designation and the candidates' last names, first names, year of birth, profession, and residential address are pre-printed, as well as ballot papers without pre-printed details.

2. The government council prepares voting instructions for the active citizens before each election.

3. The municipal council provides the active citizens with a complete set of ballot papers along with the voting instructions no later than 10 days before the election day.

1. Each eligible voter has as many individual votes as there are district council members to be elected in their municipality.

2. They cast their vote in person at the ballot box in their residential municipality or by mail.

1. The completion or alteration of the ballot papers must be done by hand.

2. The ballot paper must not contain more names than the number of district councilors to be elected in the municipality; otherwise, the excess names shall be crossed out as surplus.

3. Whoever uses a ballot paper without a pre-printed form may enter the names of eligible candidates; they may also add the designation of a list.

4. Whoever uses a ballot paper with a pre-printed form may strike off pre-printed names and replace them with others.

1. An active citizen may manually enter candidates from other lists on their ballot paper.

1. Each nominee may be listed no more than twice.

2. If the same name is listed more than twice, the excess repetitions must be deleted.

1. If a ballot contains fewer names of nominees than there are seats to be filled by the municipality, the remaining votes are counted as list votes for the list whose designation the ballot bears; if there is no list designation, these votes are not counted and are considered as blank votes.

1. Ballots are invalid if they

1. are not official;

2. are altered or completed other than by hand, unless a pre-printed ballot is deposited unchanged;

3. contain only names of candidates not validly nominated by the municipality;

4. do not clearly express the voter's intention;

5. contain remarks or markings.

1. The voting bureau of the municipality has the following values to determine

1. the number of eligible voters and the number of voters;

2. the number of valid, invalid, and blank ballots;

3. the number of votes each candidate on each list received (candidate votes);

4. the number of additional votes for each list;

5. the sum of the candidate and additional votes for each list (party votes);

6. the number of blank votes.

2. These results are to be transmitted electronically to the cantonal voting bureau without delay.

3. The voting bureau of the municipality must record the results in a protocol.

1. The allocation of seats is carried out by the cantonal voting office.

2. If multiple solutions arise during the primary allocation or secondary allocation that equally satisfy the conditions mentioned in Articles 23 and 24, the cantonal voting office will decide by drawing lots.

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

2. In each list group, the voter numbers of the lists are summed. The total is divided by the cantonal electoral key and rounded to the nearest whole number. This results in the number of seats for the respective list group.

3. To calculate the cantonal electoral key, the voter numbers of all list groups are summed and divided by 60. If too many or too few seats are allocated using this cantonal electoral key, the cantonal voting office adjusts the cantonal electoral key.

1. The party vote count of a list is divided by the electoral district divisor and the list group divisor. This results in the number of seats for that list.

2. The cantonal voting office establishes an electoral district divisor for each electoral district and a list group divisor for each list group in such a manner that, when proceeding according to paragraph 1

1. each electoral district receives the number of seats allocated to it by the government council in accordance with Article 56 of the Electoral and Voting Act (EVA); and

2. each list group receives the number of seats allotted to it according to upper allocation.

1. From each list, the candidates who have received the most votes are elected according to the number of seats obtained. In the event of a tie in the number of votes, the person listed first on the list receives the seat.

2. The candidates who are not elected become substitutes in the order of votes received.

3. If more seats are allocated to a list than there are candidates, the rules regarding replacement and supplementary elections apply.

1. The cantonal voting office publishes the election results in the Official Gazette.

1. The Electoral Determination of the Cantonal Voting Office can be contested by filing a complaint with the Executive Council within 3 days of its publication. Every active citizen is entitled to lodge a complaint.

2. The decision of the Executive Council can be contested by filing a complaint with the Constitutional Court within 3 days of its delivery.

**1.** The District Administrator determines the composition of the council by resolution at the inaugural meeting.

1. If a seat cannot be filled or if a member of the district council leaves before the end of the term, the municipal council declares the first substitute from the same list elected; if the substitute declines the election in writing within five days of receiving the notification, the next substitute takes their place.

2. If the seat cannot be filled by succession, the majority of the signatories of the list may designate a replacement person within 30 days.

1. If no substitute person is designated, the municipal council shall order a supplementary election in the relevant electoral district according to the majority voting procedure pursuant to § 7 and § 18 of the Implementing Ordinance on Ballot Votes in Municipal Matters.

2. The municipal council must immediately transmit the election results of the supplementary election to the cantonal voting office.

3. No supplementary election shall take place if the renewal election of the district council occurs within six months.

1. The municipal council shall inform the cantonal voting office of the election result of the by-election or the succession of a replacement, which shall publish it in the official gazette.

2. Article 27 is applicable to complaints.

1. The term of office of the District Administrator begins on July 1 following the general renewal election.

1. Unless otherwise specified by this law, the following apply to district council elections in this sequence

1. The Law on Political Rights in the Canton (Election and Voting Law, WAG)[3];

2. The Introductory Law to the Federal Legislation on Political Rights[4];

3. The Municipal Legislation[5].

1. The Executive Council enacts the provisions necessary for the implementation of this law in a regulation.

1. ...

1. This law shall come into force on January 1, 1982; it shall be published in the official gazette and included in the statute book.

2. All provisions that are in conflict with it are hereby repealed.