Ordinance on the Election of the Cantonal Council and the Election of Residents' Councils according to the Proportional Representation System (Proportional Election Ordinance) (Proporzwahlverordnung) - Allocation of Seats to Electoral Districts

1. The number of representatives for each electoral district of the Cantonal Council, which consists of 60 members, is determined according to the provisions of the decree concerning the division of the Canton of Schaffhausen into electoral districts for the election of the Cantonal Council and the number of members to be elected in these electoral districts, dated October 26, 2015.

1. Allocation of Seats to Political Groups is Based on Their Voter Strength in the Canton.

1. The election day for the regular complete renewal of the Cantonal Council is determined by the Government Council (Art. 18 and 21 Election Law).

1. For the calculation of time limits, unless otherwise specified by this regulation, the provisions of the Law on Legal Protection in Administrative Matters shall apply, with the exception of Article 9, paragraph 3 (Submission to an incompetent authority).

1. If a lot is to be drawn, this shall be done by the District President or their representative.

1. The conduct of the Cantonal Council elections in the municipalities is the responsibility of the local election offices.

1. The use of technical aids for the determination of election results requires approval by the Council of State (Art. 29 Election Law).

1. The Government Council issues an instruction on the election procedure before each election.

1. The costs of the electoral procedure shall be distributed by the State Chancellery for the canton’s expenses and by the municipal councils of the district capitals for their expenses to the municipalities in proportion to their population. The decisive factor is the permanent population number issued by the Department of Economic Affairs at the end of the year preceding the Cantonal Council election.

1. The preliminary proceedings are conducted by the municipal council of the district capital.

1. The nomination proposals must be received by the municipal council of the district capital no later than the 62nd day (on the last but ninth Monday) before the election day.

2. The district capitals shall promptly inform the State Chancellery of all nomination proposals and the individuals proposed in the relevant nomination proposal.

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

2. The electoral lists must specify: the surname and first name, year of birth, profession, residential address, and place of origin of the nominee.

3. Each nominee must confirm in writing that they accept the nomination. If the confirmation is missing, their name will be removed.

1. Each electoral proposal must bear a designation suitable for distinguishing it from other electoral proposals.

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

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

3. The quorum pursuant to paragraph 1 of this provision does not apply to nominations from parties that were duly registered with the Federal Chancellery at the end of the year preceding the cantonal council election.

1. The signatories must designate a representative of the electoral proposal and their deputy. If they forgo doing so, those whose names are first and second in the sequence of the signatories are considered the representative and the deputy.

2. The representative and, if he is unable to attend, his deputy, are authorized and obligated to make the necessary declarations legally binding on behalf of the signatories.

1. The voters of the electoral district can inspect the election proposals and the names of the signatories at the office of the main seat of the electoral district.

1. If the name of a nominee appears on more than one election proposal of an electoral district, the municipal council of the district's main town shall immediately remove it from all such election proposals.

2. The state chancellery shall immediately remove nominees from the election proposal whose name already appears on a list or an election proposal from another electoral district.

3. The state chancellery shall immediately inform the affected municipal councils of the main towns of their removals.

1. The municipal council of the district capital examines the electoral nominations and, if necessary, sets a deadline for the representative of the signatories within which they must rectify any deficiencies in the electoral nomination, amend any designations that could cause confusion, and submit substitute proposals for candidates who have been officially removed.

2. Those proposed as substitutes must confirm in writing that they accept the electoral nomination. If this confirmation is missing, or the respective name already appears on another electoral nomination, or if the proposed candidate is ineligible, the substitute proposal will be removed. Unless otherwise requested by the representative of the electoral nomination, the substitute proposals will be lined up at the end of the electoral nomination.

3. If a deficiency is not rectified within the set deadline, the electoral nomination is invalid. If the deficiency only concerns one candidate, only that candidate's name will be removed.

4. As of the 48th day (seventh last Monday) before the election day, no electoral nominations can be changed.

1. The adjusted lists of candidates are referred to as slates.

2. The slates are assigned ordinal numbers by the State Chancellery.

3. ...

1. The lists with their designations and serial numbers must be promptly submitted in copy to the State Chancellery for publication in the Official Gazette.

1. The municipal councils of the district capitals shall prepare election ballots for all lists, on which the list name, order number, and candidate details (at least surname, first name, and place of residence) are pre-printed, as well as ballots without pre-print. The State Chancellery may issue directives.

2. The municipalities shall deliver a complete set of all ballots to the eligible voters no later than ten days before the election day.

1. The district election offices can obtain the forms from the State Chancellery at cost price.

1. Only those persons whose name appears on a list of the respective electoral district are eligible.

1. Anyone using a non-preprinted ballot may enter the names of eligible candidates and include the designation or ordinal number of a list.

2. Anyone using a preprinted ballot may strike out preprinted candidate names; they may enter candidate names from other lists (mixing). Furthermore, they may strike out or replace the preprinted ordinal number and list designation with another.

3. The name of the same candidate may be listed twice (cumulative voting).

4. All deletions, changes, or additions must be made in handwriting.

1. During the voting process, a control stamp must be affixed to the backside of the ballot paper.

1. The counting of the votes is conducted by the municipal electoral offices.

2. The deletions to be made by the municipal electoral offices must be marked with the letter "W" (for Wahlbüro, meaning electoral office).

1. Ballots are invalid if they

a) do not contain the name of a candidate from the electoral district

b) are not official

c) do not bear the official control stamp (§ 28)

d) are filled out or altered in any manner other than by handwriting

e) contain defamatory statements or obvious markings

f) * ...

2. If the name of a candidate appears more than twice on a ballot, the excess repetitions shall be struck off.

3. If a ballot contains more names than seats to be filled, the last names shall be struck off.

1. Votes for candidates who have passed away since the finalization of the lists (Section 20, Paragraph 2) shall be counted as candidate votes.

1. If a valid ballot contains fewer candidate votes than there are representatives to be elected in the electoral district, the empty lines count as additional votes for the list whose designation or ordinal number is indicated on the ballot. If the designation and ordinal number are missing or the ballot contains more than one of the submitted list designations or ordinal numbers, the empty lines do not count (empty votes).

2. ...

3. Names not appearing on any list in the electoral district will be struck. However, the votes cast for them will be counted as additional votes if the ballot carries a list designation or ordinal number. If no such indication is present, these votes do not count (empty votes).

4. In case of a discrepancy between the list designation and ordinal numbers, the list designation prevails.

1. If a municipality conducts the electronic result processing according to Art. 29ter of the electoral law centrally, it shall immediately deliver the election materials to the State Chancellery after compilation. The municipality may delegate the input of results determined by the municipal election offices into the election software to external service providers. These external service providers are subject to the supervision of the State Chancellery.

2. If a municipality conducts the electronic result processing according to Art. 29ter of the electoral law at the central location of the electoral district, it shall immediately deliver the election materials to the municipal election office of the central location after compilation. The municipality may delegate the input of results determined by the municipal election offices into the election software to external service providers. These external service providers are subject to the supervision of the municipal election office at the central location.

3. If corrections are necessary during this result processing, they must be approved by the competent municipal election office.

1. If there is suspicion that a municipal election result is incorrect, the State Chancellery shall either conduct a recount itself or order a recount by the municipal election office.

1. After the conclusion of the election, the municipal election offices ascertain

a) the number of eligible voters and actual voters

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 total number of additional votes for each list (Section 32)

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

f) the number of empty ballots

2. The municipal election offices shall deliver the election protocols according to paragraph 1, along with the other auxiliary forms and the ballots, to the State Chancellery immediately after electronic results recording.

3. The ballots are to be packaged and sealed in the manner in which they were sorted during the results recording.

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

1. If all lists together do not contain more candidates than there are mandates to be allocated, all candidates are declared elected by the cantonal government.

2. If all lists together contain fewer candidates than there are mandates to be allocated, supplementary elections for the remaining seats shall be held according to § 48.

1. If no lists are available, each active citizen may be voted for. The individuals with the highest number of votes are elected.

2. If a ballot contains more names than there are mandates to be allocated, the last names will be deleted.

1. The State Chancellery transmits the election results to the district capitals and immediately informs the elected candidates of their election.

2. The State Chancellery publishes the election results in the official gazette, noting the possibility of appeal (Art. 82bis and Art. 82ter of the Election Act).

1. At the inaugural meeting, the newly elected cantonal council acknowledges the election result.

1. The election records shall remain in custody with the State Chancellery.

1. Resignation from the Cantonal Council must be submitted in writing to the President.

1. If a member of the Cantonal Council resigns before the end of their term, the Government Council shall declare the first substitute from the same list as elected, with their consent.

2. If the substitute cannot or does not wish to assume the position, the next individual in line shall take their place.

1. If a seat cannot be filled by advancing the list, the majority of the signatories of the list to which the exiting member of the Cantonal Council belonged have the right to submit an election proposal. If the party was exempt from providing signatures when submitting the election proposal (§ 15 para. 3), the board of the cantonal party which submitted the respective list may submit an election proposal.

2. The proposed candidate shall, after the rectification of the election proposal (§§ 13, 20), be declared elected by the government council without a ballot.

3. If the majority of the signatories of the original list or, in the case of § 15 para. 3, the board of the cantonal party does not exercise the right to propose or cannot agree on a proposal, a popular election shall take place.

4. If several seats are to be filled, the provisions concerning the proportional electoral system (proportional representation system) shall apply, otherwise those concerning the majority voting system.

1. For municipalities that conduct the election of their resident councils using the proportional voting method, the provisions of this ordinance shall apply mutatis mutandis (Art. 40 of the Municipal Act).

1. Insofar as this regulation does not provide its own provisions, the provisions of the Election Law shall apply.

1. This regulation shall first apply to the general renewal elections in 1980. It is to be published in the official gazette and included in the cantonal code of laws.

2. It replaces the regulation of the same name dated December 1, 1954.