Act on Elections and Referendums (WAG)

1. This law applies to all elections and votes conducted at the ballot box in the canton and municipalities.

2. For federal elections and votes, it applies insofar as federal law leaves the regulation to cantonal law.

1. The right to vote is the right to participate in ballots and elections, as well as to sign referendums and initiatives.

2. The right to vote includes eligibility for election, insofar as the law does not establish specific eligibility requirements.

3. An elected person must fulfill the conditions for registration in the electoral register (§ 4 para. 2) within the relevant jurisdiction throughout the entire duration of their term of office. If any condition ceases to exist, their office terminates.

1. Voting takes place at the political residence, specifically in the municipality where the eligible voter resides and is registered. Nomads vote in their home municipality.

2. Anyone who submits a home certificate, interim certificate, or similar document only acquires political residence if they can prove that they are not registered in the voting register of the municipality of residence.

1. Every resident municipality shall maintain a voter register under the supervision of the municipal council. Only those who are registered in the voter register are eligible to vote.

2. Individuals are entered into the voter register if they meet the requirements of § 3.

3. Entries and deletions are made continuously, but at the latest upon the closure of the voter register before a vote or election, ex officio.

4. Before a vote or election, entries shall be made by the fifth day before the voting or election day, provided it is established that the requirements for participation on the voting day are met.

5. The voter register shall be open for inspection by those eligible to vote.

1. In each municipality, the municipal council elects an electoral office comprising at least seven members and regulates the chairmanship and record-keeping. It may expand the electoral office with auxiliary staff if necessary.

2. The members of the electoral office must be eligible to vote in the electoral district, with the exception of the municipal clerk and their deputy. In the electoral office of the local municipality, all local political parties represented in the cantonal council or the municipal council in the respective municipality should be appropriately represented.

3. The electoral office oversees the voting process and determines the election and voting results.

4. The members of the electoral office and auxiliary staff must recuse themselves if they

a) * are themselves candidates in the election;

b) * are married to, in a registered partnership with, living in a permanent domestic partnership with, or directly related to any candidate in the electoral district.

5. A civic, church, or corporation municipality may, with the consent of the local municipality, recognize its electoral office.

1. The supervision of elections and votings is the responsibility of the Directorate of the Interior. It issues circulars and instructions, oversees legislation, and organizes the complaints service.

2. The cantonal voting office is the State Chancellery.

1. The municipal council determines the polling stations and the opening hours of the ballot boxes.

2. On the voting Sunday, the ballot boxes are to be kept open for at least one hour, but no later than until 12:00 PM.

3. After the end of each opening period, the ballot boxes must be sealed and stored in a safe location along with the voting eligibility certificates.

4. ...

1. **Voting Material** consists of the voting rights certificate, the voting template with explanations, the ballot or voting papers, and the sealable ballot envelope. It is sent to eligible voters in an envelope that must be used as the return envelope for postal voting.

2. In elections, eligible voters will also receive a blank ballot paper in any event.

3. The voting material must be sent in such a timely manner that it reaches eligible voters for referendums in the fourth week before the voting day and for elections at the latest in the third week before the election day.

4. The municipal council may decide that voting templates with explanations shall be delivered only once per household, unless a registered household member requests personal delivery.

5. The local municipalities bear the costs for the dispatch of the voting material.

6. The canton and the municipalities can financially support private entities and provide them with addresses so that they can send private voting and referendum aids separately to eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 25 along with the voting material. The voting and referendum aids must ensure the principles of neutrality and objectivity. They must be delivered to other eligible voters upon request. The government council shall regulate the details.

1. For federal and cantonal elections and referendums, the State Chancellery provides the voting materials to the municipalities.

1. In the design of election and voting materials, consideration must be given to the needs of persons with disabilities.

1. Eligible voters can cast their vote either in person at the polling station, by mail, or - where the conditions are met (§ 17) - electronically.

2. Official voting and election ballots must be used. These may only be completed or modified by hand.

1. Before the ballot papers and voting slips are placed into the ballot box, they must be stamped by a member of the polling station or otherwise marked in an appropriate manner.

2. The eligible voter is only allowed to place their own ballot papers and voting slips into the ballot box.

1. Postal voting is permitted upon receipt of the voting materials.

2. The municipality bears the postage costs within the country.

**1. Anyone wishing to vote by mail shall seal the ballot papers in the ballot envelope, which must not contain any information about the eligible person, and sign the voting authorization. The ballot envelope and the voting authorization shall be placed in the official return envelope. This must be sealed and delivered to the municipal office of the voter's political residence.**

**2. The return envelope can be handed over to the postal service either domestically or abroad, deposited in the municipal mailbox, submitted to the municipal administration, or delivered during regular voting hours at a polling station.**

1. Postal Voting is Invalid if

a) the voting certificate is not included or is unsigned;

b) * the return envelope contains more ballot envelopes than valid voting certificates;

c) * ...

d) the ballot envelope contains information about the identity of the voter or obvious markings;

e) the return envelope is not sealed;

f) the official return envelope is not used;

g) the address of the voter on the voting certificate is not legible;

h) the return envelope arrives at the municipal administration or the voting office after the polls have closed.

1. The return envelopes received must be handed over to the voting office unopened before the closing of the polls. The office will open them and ensure that the voting certificates and ballot envelopes are stored securely until the opening of the polls (§ 18).

2. Return envelopes that are deemed invalid pursuant to § 14 will be set aside and will not be considered for the polls.

3. On the voting day, the voting office opens the ballot envelopes, maintaining the secrecy of the vote.

4. ...

5. If the ballot envelope contains multiple voting or ballot papers with different contents for the same matter, all of them are considered invalid; they will be counted as one invalid voting or ballot paper in the determination of the results. If they are identical, one of them is valid.

1. Eligible voters who are unable to perform the necessary actions required for voting due to a disability may submit a request to the municipality to exercise their voting rights with the assistance of the municipal secretary or another person working within the municipal administration.

2. They may also submit a request to the municipality that individuals eligible to vote in Switzerland, whom they trust, can provide this assistance in the future.

3. A request pursuant to paragraph 1 must be submitted no later than three days, and a request pursuant to paragraph 2 no later than twenty days before the voting Sunday.

4. The assisting persons shall support the person with a disability in casting their vote, if necessary, also in completing the ballot papers. They shall refrain from any influence and are subject to confidentiality obligations.

1. The government council may authorize trials for electronic voting that are limited in location, time, or subject matter, provided the technical, security, and organizational requirements are met.

2. The verification of voting eligibility, the secrecy of the vote, and the recording of all votes must be guaranteed, and any misuse must be prevented.

3. The government council shall regulate the details.

1. The ballot boxes may only be opened on the voting Sunday.

2. The polling office shall take the necessary measures to safeguard the secrecy of the vote and to secure the ballot papers.

1. Ballot papers are invalid if they

a) are not official;

b) * are not marked according to § 11 paragraph 1;

c) have been completed or altered in a manner other than by handwriting;

d) do not clearly express the intent of the eligible voter;

e) * contain defamatory statements or obvious markings;

f) * are not enclosed in the ballot envelope.

2. Ballot papers are also invalid if they do not contain a valid candidate name.

1. In determining the outcome of a vote or election, invalid and blank ballot papers are disregarded.

1. Minutes of the outcome of each election and vote shall be prepared by the electoral office in accordance with the guidelines of the State Chancellery. They must be signed by the chairperson and the minute-taker.

2. The minutes are to be delivered to the Directorate of the Interior on the Monday following the election.

1. The voting and election ballots - valid, invalid, and blank, each separately - and the voting rights certificates are to be sealed immediately and sent to the State Chancellery for cantonal and federal elections and referendums.

2. The sealed voting and election ballots and voting rights certificates, as well as the invalid returns (§ 14), are to be retained until the election and referendum results are officially confirmed.

1. In federal and cantonal elections and referendums, the State Chancellery determines the result, while in municipal elections and referendums as well as in cantonal council and justice of the peace elections, the municipal polling office does so.

2. The polling offices promptly transmit the results of the cantonal and federal elections and referendums to the State Chancellery. The State Chancellery publishes them in the official gazette, indicating the possibility to file a complaint.

3. The municipal election and referendum results are published by the municipal council.

**1. The Canton maintains an electronic recording and evaluation system, which**

a) supports the polling offices of the municipalities in the recording and transmission of the contents of election and voting ballots in electronic form;

b) evaluates the contents of the election and voting ballots thus recorded;

c) determines the results of the election or voting;

d) transmits the data between the polling offices of the municipalities and the State Chancellery;

e) performs the necessary statistical evaluations.

**2. The State Chancellery decides on the use of the electronic recording and evaluation system**

a) for federal and cantonal elections and voting;

b) for municipal general renewal elections.

**3. The State Chancellery makes the electronic recording and evaluation system available to the municipalities for other municipal elections and municipal voting.**

**4. If the State Chancellery orders the use of the electronic recording and evaluation system for federal and cantonal elections and voting as well as for municipal general renewal elections, the municipalities are obligated to use it.**

**5. The municipalities assume the support and costs of the electronic recording and evaluation system, provided that on the day of voting or election**

a) no federal or cantonal voting takes place;

b) no federal or cantonal election takes place;

c) no municipal general renewal election takes place, for which the State Chancellery has ordered the electronic recording and evaluation system.

**6. In all other cases, the Canton assumes the support and costs of the electronic recording and evaluation system.**

1. The State Chancellery may permit the electronic submission of election proposals, provided that the technical, security, and organizational requirements are met.

2. The State Chancellery shall regulate the details.

1. Elections are ordered by the cantonal executive council at the canton level and by the municipal council at the municipal level. They must be announced in the official gazette by the state chancellery or the municipal council eight weeks before the election day.

1. The voting documents must include a brief and objective explanation of the proposal, which also reflects the views of significant minorities. In votes on initiatives and referendum proposals, the arguments of the initiating committees must be duly considered.

1. For the adoption of a proposal, a majority of the valid votes is required. In the event of a tie, the proposal is considered rejected.

1. Voting on Initiatives with Counter-Proposal shall be conducted according to the following principles

a) Voters are presented with three questions on the same ballot paper. They may freely indicate,

1. whether they prefer the initiative to the current regulation,

2. whether they prefer the counter-proposal to the current regulation,

3. which of the two proposals should come into force if both proposals are preferred to the current regulation.

b) The absolute majority is determined separately for each question. Unanswered questions are disregarded;

c) If both the initiative and the counter-proposal are accepted, the result of the tie-breaking question decides. The proposal that receives more votes in this question is adopted. In the event of a tie, the higher number of "Yes" votes from the two main questions decides.

1. Variants may be presented to the voters on the same matter. A maximum of two variants is permitted.

2. Paragraph 27 applies mutatis mutandis.

1. The initiative committee must declare the withdrawal of a constitutional or legislative initiative to the state chancellery within one week of the final vote in the cantonal council (by 24:00 on the last day of the deadline).

2. If the cantonal council has adopted a counter-proposal to a fully formulated initiative and the initiative is withdrawn, the counter-proposal is deemed to be a resolution of the cantonal council and is subject to a referendum in accordance with the cantonal constitution.

3. If the cantonal council has adopted a counter-proposal to an initiative in the form of a general suggestion and the initiative is withdrawn, the executive council shall draft a proposal that corresponds to the counter-proposal.

4. If a counter-proposal exists for a legislative initiative, the initiative can be withdrawn on the condition that no referendum is held.

1. All elections must be announced by the State Chancellery in the official gazette twelve weeks before the election date, specifying the date for any supplementary elections and second ballots in the majoritarian system. Any supplementary elections and second ballots in the majoritarian system must be announced in the official gazette on the Thursday following the election day.

1. The general renewal elections for the members of the Executive Council and the Cantonal Council shall be held on the first Sunday of October, those for judicial authorities on the last Sunday of June, and those for members of the Council of States concurrently with the National Council elections.

2. ...

3. The Executive Council may postpone the election dates if special circumstances suggest it is necessary.

3a. The State Chancellery may shorten the deadlines for the reconciliation (§ 35) and for the supplementation of election proposals (§ 36) if special circumstances suggest it is necessary.

4. The term of office for the members of the Council of States begins with the commencement of the winter session of the Council of States.

1. If the weekdays mentioned in §§ 31 (1), 33 (3), 35 (1) and (3), 36 (1), 52 (4), 56 (3), and 60 (2), second sentence, fall on a public holiday according to § 10 (1) of the Law on the Organization of Civil and Criminal Justice Administration of August 26, 2010 (Court Organization Act, COA), then the respective deadlines and appointments are postponed to the next working day at 12:00 noon.

1. Election proposals must be submitted by the tenth Monday before the election day, by 5:00 PM, to

a) the State Chancellery for the elections of the members of the Council of States, the Government Council, the Administrative, Superior, Cantonal, and Criminal Courts;

b) the Municipal Chancellery for the members of the Cantonal Council.

2. ...

3. The Municipal Chancellery shall immediately inform the State Chancellery of the submitted election proposals for the Cantonal Council elections.

1. Each electoral proposal must contain a designation suitable for distinguishing it from other proposals. This designation may not be misleading or violate good morals.

2. If multiple electoral proposals with the same designation are submitted, they shall be numbered in the order of their receipt.

3. The electoral proposal must not contain more names than there are mandates to be awarded. The same name may be listed a maximum of twice.

4. Each proposed individual must confirm in writing that they accept the electoral proposal. If the confirmation is missing, their name will be removed.

5. The acceptance of the electoral proposal cannot be revoked.

1. In majority elections, a nomination may not contain more names than there are mandates to be allocated. Additional nominations for the same individuals are invalid.

2. The nomination must include any party or group submitting the nomination and must be listed on the supplementary sheet pursuant to § 39(1a) of this law.

3. Each proposed individual must confirm in writing their acceptance of the nomination. If the confirmation is missing, the nomination is void.

4. Acceptance of the nomination cannot be revoked.

1. Each nomination must be signed by at least ten eligible voters from the respective electoral district in addition to the candidate (§ 32 para. 4 and § 32a para. 3). The signature cannot be withdrawn.

1a. The signatories of the nominations must be registered in the electoral register on the day the nominations are submitted.

2. The first signatory is considered the representative of the respective nomination, unless expressly stated otherwise. The representative of the nomination must be eligible to vote in the respective electoral district. The representative is authorized and obliged to make legally binding declarations necessary to rectify deficiencies.

2a. The representative of the respective nomination must provide contact information (telephone number and email address) on the nomination.

3. If a person has signed more than one nomination per type of election, their signatures will be removed from all nominations for that type of election.

4. Deficient signatures are to be communicated to the representatives of the nomination so that replacement signatures can potentially be obtained. These must be submitted by Wednesday after the nomination deadline, 5:00 p.m.

1. If, in proportional representation elections, the name of a proposed person appears on more than one list of candidates in an electoral district, the municipal office shall promptly delete that name from all such lists.

2. The state chancellery shall promptly remove those proposed candidates whose name already appears on a list of candidates from another municipality. It shall inform the affected municipalities of such deletions as quickly as possible.

3. ...

1. The nomination proposals are available for inspection at the State Chancellery or the Municipal Chancellery until Wednesday following the deadline for election registration, 5:00 p.m. Any defects in the nomination proposals can be claimed until this time.

2. Identified defects must be communicated to the representative of the respective nomination proposal no later than the following day by 12:00 p.m.

3. If a defect is not remedied by Friday after the deadline for election registration, 12:00 p.m., the nomination proposal will be declared invalid, and the invalidity will be immediately communicated to the representative of the nomination proposal, but no later than 5:00 p.m. If the defect only concerns individual nominees, only their name will be removed.

1. The representatives of electoral lists from which proposed candidates have been officially removed shall be invited to supplement the electoral lists by Monday following the close of candidacy registration at 5:00 p.m.

2. Electoral lists may be supplemented by the same deadline if any proposed candidates have died or lost eligibility since submission.

3. Proposed replacements must confirm in writing their acceptance of the electoral list. If this confirmation is missing, the replacement proposal will be removed.

4. Unless the representative of the electoral list requests otherwise, the replacement proposals will be listed at the end of the electoral list.

1. The reconciliation procedure is concluded on the first Monday after the election registration deadline at 5:00 PM.

2. After the conclusion of the reconciliation procedure, no electoral proposal can be changed.

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

2. The lists are numbered with Arabic numerals. The numbering of the lists is carried out according to the number of votes decisive for the allocation of seats in the council, which were cast for the lists in the last general election, with the list receiving the highest number of votes being assigned the number 1. In the case of several lists with the same number of votes, the order of the list numbers for these lists is determined alphabetically according to the initial letters of their titles.

2a. Newly submitted lists receive the numbers not yet assigned by the existing lists and are listed in alphabetical order by the initial letters of their titles following the lists ordered in accordance with paragraph 2.

2b. If the numbering in the Grand Municipal Council deviates from the cantonal numbering, the numbering for the Grand Municipal Council follows the cantonal numbering.

3. The lists are published with the designations in the official gazette.

1. In the event of a ballot for majoritarian elections, the finalized electoral proposals are published in the official gazette in alphabetical order based on the last names of the incumbent candidates, followed by the new candidates, along with any political party or group that has submitted the electoral proposal.

1. In proportional representation elections, ballots are prepared for all lists with pre-printed information including the list designation, candidate details (last and first names, year of birth, occupation, place of residence, and, if applicable, the note "incumbent"), as well as ballots without any pre-printed information.

1a. In majority elections, a single blank ballot is prepared for each election, which contains as many empty lines as there are positions to be filled in the respective authority. An informational supplement is attached to this ballot, which first lists all incumbent candidates and then all new candidates in alphabetical order by last name. The supplement includes last and first names, year of birth, occupation, place of residence, the note "incumbent" if applicable, and any potential party or group that submitted the nomination.

2. Voters are provided with a complete set of all ballots for their electoral district.

1. If only an equal number or fewer persons are nominated for an authority than there are seats to be allocated, no election takes place.

2. For cantonal elections, the Government Council declares the nominated individuals as elected; for municipal elections, the Municipal Council does the same. They notify the individuals of their election and publish the results in the Official Gazette.

3. If not all seats are filled after the unopposed election, a supplementary election takes place (§§ 52 and 57).

1. If individuals are elected who, according to § 20 of the Cantonal Constitution, may not simultaneously be members of the same authority, and none among the elected voluntarily resigns, the one with the fewer votes is excluded. In the case of a tie, a lot determines the outcome.

2. In the event of an incompatibility pursuant to § 21 paragraph 2 of the Cantonal Constitution, the affected person must inform the State Chancellery within seven days of which office they are renouncing. If they fail to make this notification, the Cantonal Council will determine their ineligibility.

3. If, contrary to § 45 paragraph 2 of the Cantonal Constitution, a member of the Government Council is elected to one of the federal councils or a member of the federal councils is elected to the Government Council, they must declare in writing to the Government Council within fourteen days which office they are resigning. If they resign from the office of member of the Council of States or member of the Government Council, the Government Council immediately orders a supplementary election. The member may hold the office they are resigning from until a successor assumes the office.

1. Whoever uses a pre-printed ballot may strike out names, enter the name of the same person twice (cumulate), add names from other pre-printed lists (combine), and eliminate or replace the list designation with another.

2. Blank ballots (§ 8 para. 2) may be provided with a list designation and filled in wholly or partially with names of proposed candidates.

3. The same name may appear on the ballot a maximum of twice.

4. No more individuals may be listed on the ballot than are to be elected.

1. If a ballot contains fewer valid candidate votes than the number of mandates to be allocated in the electoral district, the empty lines are counted as additional votes for the list whose designation is indicated on the ballot. If there is no designation or if the ballot cannot be clearly attributed to a list, the empty lines do not count (blank votes).

2. If names have been struck off in accordance with § 44 paragraph 1 and fewer names remain than persons to be elected, the votes attributable to them are counted as additional votes if the ballot bears a list designation. If such a designation is missing, these votes do not count (blank votes).

3. ...

4. The candidates listed on the ballot each receive one candidate vote.

1. Altered ballots must be rectified. The following shall be invalidated

a) * Names of individuals who are not running for election and do not appear on any list;

b) * Names that cannot be clearly attributed to a candidate;

c) * Names of the same candidate appearing more than twice.

2. If a ballot contains more names than there are seats to be allocated, the last pre-printed names not manually accumulated shall be struck through first, followed by the last manually filled-in names.

**1. After the conclusion of the election, the voting office determines and records for each authority:**

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

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

**2. From the number of valid ballots, the following are determined:**

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

b) the number of additional votes for each list (§ 43);

c) the total number of candidate and additional votes for each party (party votes);

d) the number of blank votes.

1. The total number of valid party votes for all lists is divided by the number of mandates to be allocated, increased by one. The next highest whole number is the distribution number.

2. Subsequently, each list is allocated as many mandates as the distribution number is contained in its number of votes.

1. If not all mandates have been allocated, the remaining mandates shall be allocated individually and successively according to the following rules

a) The number of votes for each list is divided by the number of mandates already allocated to it, increased by one;

b) The next mandate is allocated to the list with the highest quotient;

c) If several lists have the same claim based on the same quotient, the next mandate is allocated to the list that achieved the highest remainder in the division according to § 46 para. 2;

d) If several lists still have the same claim, the mandate goes to the list with the highest number of party votes;

e) If several lists still have the same claim, the next mandate is allocated to the list in which the candidate being considered for election received the most votes;

f) If these numbers of votes are also equal, the result is determined by lot.

2. This procedure is repeated until all mandates have been allocated.

1. On each list, the candidate who has received the most votes is elected. In the event of a tie, the order on the list determines the outcome.

2. The candidates who are not elected become alternates, in the order of the votes they received. In the event of a tie, the order on the list determines the outcome.

1. If a list is allocated more mandates than it contains candidates, a supplementary election shall be held for the excess seats (§ 52).

1. If a person declines the election or a seat becomes vacant during the term of office, the municipal council declares the first substitute candidate elected in cantonal council elections. The decision must be published in the official gazette.

2. If a substitute candidate is unable or unwilling to assume office, the next candidate in line shall take their place.

3. If the substitute candidate declines the election, the waiver applies for the entire legislative period.

1. If a seat cannot be filled by succession, the government council shall order a supplementary election. If fewer than three members of the authority are to be elected, the majority vote procedure (§§ 53 ff.) shall apply.

2. Candidates who have withdrawn in favor of a fellow candidate in the main election may no longer be proposed for the relevant term of office.

3. Supplementary elections are to be conducted within four months after the vacancy of a seat becomes known, unless special circumstances suggest a postponement. For second rounds of voting, § 56 of this law applies mutatis mutandis.

4. The nominations for supplementary elections must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on the eighth last Monday before the election day.

5. No supplementary election shall be conducted if general renewal elections are taking place in the respective year and the vacancy does not exceed six months until the end of the current term of office.

1. Unless otherwise specified in the following provisions (§§ 52b-52g), the election of the Cantonal Council is governed by §§ 1-23a and §§ 29-52 of this law. §§ 46-49 are excluded. The silent election (§ 40) of individual candidates or in individual electoral districts is only possible in supplementary elections for Cantonal Council elections.

2. The election of the Cantonal Council is conducted according to the double proportional seat allocation procedure.

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

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

2. If a list is submitted in only one electoral district, this list shall also be regarded as a list group.

3. A list group participates in the allocation of seats only if its list receives at least 5% of all party votes in at least one electoral district of the respective district or if it reaches a number of voters that corresponds to a voter share of at least 3% across the canton.

4. List alliances are excluded.

1. The number of votes for a party list is divided by the number of seats to be allocated in the respective electoral district. The result is called the number of voters for the list.

2. In each list group, the voter numbers of the lists are added together. The sum is divided by the cantonal election key and rounded to the nearest whole number. The result indicates the number of seats for the respective list group.

3. As part of the procedure in accordance with paragraph 2, the State Chancellery determines the cantonal election key in such a way that 80 seats are allocated.

4. In the event of equally viable rounding options, the decision is made by lot.

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. The result represents the number of seats for that list.

1a If the number of seats for the list with the most votes in an electoral district is not at least one, it will be increased to one (Majority Condition).

1b If the application of the Majority Condition leads to a contradiction with paragraph 2, the Majority Condition will be deactivated in as few electoral districts as possible to comply with the conditions of paragraph 2. If there are several equivalent possibilities, the decision will be made by drawing lots.

2. The State Chancellery sets an electoral district divisor for each electoral district and a list group divisor for each list group in such a manner that, in accordance with paragraph 1,

a) each electoral district receives the number of seats allocated to it in accordance with § 38 of the Cantonal Constitution;

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

3. In the case of equivalent rounding possibilities, the decision will be made by drawing lots.

1. The seats allocated to a list are distributed among the candidates in accordance with the number of votes each candidate received. In the event of a tie, the seat is awarded to the person who is listed first.

1a ...

2. The individuals not elected serve as alternates in the order of the number of votes they received.

3. If a list is allocated more seats than there are candidates on the list, the provisions for the supplementary election (§ 52) apply.

1. If the application of the double-proportional seat allocation procedure results in a situation where no seat allocation in accordance with § 52d-52f is possible, the seats in each electoral district shall be distributed separately by analogous application of Articles 40 and following of the Federal Act on Political Rights.

1. The ballots shall be amended in content. For this purpose, the following are to be deleted

a) candidate names written more than once;

b) names not submitted in proper form and within the deadline during the election registration process;

c) illegible and insufficiently designated candidate names.

2. If a ballot contains more names than the number of members to be elected to the respective authority, the excess names shall be struck off, starting from the bottom to the top and from right to left.

1. Upon conclusion of the election, the voting office shall separately determine and record for each authority

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

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

c) the number of valid votes received by each individual candidate (candidate votes).

1. Elected is the candidate who achieves the absolute majority and the highest number of votes. In the event of a tie, the decision is made by drawing lots.

2. The absolute majority is calculated as follows: The total number of valid votes for candidates is divided by twice the number of members to be elected to the authority; the next highest whole number is the absolute majority.

1. If fewer candidates achieve the absolute majority in the first ballot than there are mandates to be allocated, or for any other reason not all seats could be filled, a second ballot shall take place in the respective electoral district.

2. Second ballots are held on the eighth Sunday after the main election.

3. Election proposals must be submitted by the seventh-to-last Monday before the election day, 5:00 p.m. New candidates can also be proposed.

3a. For the election of the members of the Council of States, the Government Council sets the election day and the deadline for the submission of election proposals in such a way that the participation of the elected members of the Council of States on the first day of the winter session is ensured. New candidates can also be proposed.

4. In the second ballot, a relative majority decides. Candidates shall be declared elected in the order of the number of votes received, such that there are as many candidates as there are mandates still to be filled. In the event of a tie, the lot decides.

1. By-elections for seats that become vacant during the term of office are scheduled by the Executive Council. Unless special circumstances suggest a postponement, they are to be conducted within four months of the vacancy becoming known. For second ballots, § 56 of this law applies accordingly.

1a. The nominations for by-elections must be submitted by 5:00 PM on the eighth Monday before the election day.

2. No by-election will be held if general renewal elections are scheduled for the relevant year and the vacancy does not exceed six months before the end of the current term.

3. No by-election will be held for the courts if general renewal elections take place in the year when the vacancy occurs.

1. The Cantonal Council definitively and conclusively establishes the validity of the elections for the Cantonal Council, the Executive Council, the Council of States, and the judges.

1a. This decision is published in the Official Gazette. It is of a declaratory nature.

2. Members of the council whose election is contested shall recuse themselves.

1. Until the election of the President, if the Vice Presidency has not yet been filled, the longest-serving member of the authority shall preside, and in the case of equal tenure, the older member shall assume the chairmanship.

1. If an election is annulled, the current members of the authority shall continue to carry out their official duties until a valid new election has taken place.

1. For municipal elections, subject to the provisions of this title, the regulations concerning cantonal elections (§§ 29 et seq.) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

1. The general renewal elections are held in the residential, citizen, and corporate municipalities as well as in the church communities on the first Sunday of October.

2. By-elections are held on the eighth Sunday after the main election. Nomination proposals must be submitted by the seventh-to-last Monday before the election day by 5:00 PM.

3. The governing council may postpone the election dates if special circumstances suggest it.

1. The State Chancellery announces the general renewal elections twelve weeks prior to the election day in the official gazette. Simultaneously, the dates for any potential supplementary elections and second ballots in the majority voting procedure must be specified. These are to be announced in the official gazette on the Thursday following the election day.

1. By-elections for seats vacated during the term of office shall be scheduled by the municipal council and announced in the official gazette. They must be conducted within four months of a seat becoming vacant, unless special circumstances suggest a postponement. For second rounds of voting, § 56 of this law applies correspondingly.

1a. Nominations for by-elections must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on the eighth Monday before the election day.

2. No by-election shall be conducted if general renewal elections take place in the respective year and the vacancy does not exceed six months before the end of the current term.

1. Along with the electoral proposals, it can simultaneously be indicated who is being proposed as the president of the respective authority.

2. Only a person who is also elected as a member or is already a member of the respective authority can be elected as the president of the authority.

3. If someone is elected as president but not as a member of the authority, a supplementary election is held.

1. In the event of a close result in a municipal vote or a municipal majoritarian election (§ 69 para. 3), the head of the municipal voting office (§ 5 para. 1) shall order a recount.

1. The Department of the Interior supervises the conduct of the National Council elections and takes the measures required by federal law.

2. The State Chancellery publishes the elections in the official gazette no later than twelve weeks before the election day.

3. At the State Chancellery

a) election proposals must be submitted (Art. 21 para. 1 of the Federal Act on Political Rights; BPR);

b) the election proposals and the names of the signatories can be inspected (Art. 26 BPR).

4. The State Chancellery reviews the election proposals and sets a deadline for the representative of the signatories within which deficiencies in the election proposal must be rectified, designations likely to cause confusion must be changed, and substitute proposals for candidates whose names have been officially deleted can be submitted (Art. 29 para. 1 BPR).

1. Election Registration Deadline according to Article 21 of the Federal Act on Political Rights is the tenth Monday before the official election day. The nomination papers must be received by the State Chancellery by 5:00 PM on this day at the latest.

1. The lists shall be numbered with Arabic numerals. The numbering of the lists shall follow the number of votes decisive for seat allocation in the council that the lists received in the last full renewal election, with the list having the highest number of votes receiving the number 1. Votes from lists that are connected by sub-list links shall be added together. In the case of multiple lists with the same number of votes, the sequence of the list numbers for these lists shall be determined alphabetically based on the initial letters of their titles.

2. If a list of the same name is divided by gender, faction of a group, region, or age, these additional lists shall receive the same serial number and shall be additionally marked by a letter. The main list shall always receive the letter "a."

3. Newly submitted lists shall be given the numbers not yet allocated by the existing lists and shall be listed in alphabetical order according to the initial letters of their titles following the lists organized according to paragraph 1.

1. A fine shall be imposed on anyone who

a) intentionally breaches their duties as a member of the voting office;

b) disturbs peace and order in the polling station or its vicinity.

2. Attempt and complicity are punishable.

3. The provisions of the Swiss Penal Code and the Act on the Liability of Authorities and Officials remain reserved.

1. An appeal can be lodged with the Executive Council due to

a) Infringement of voting rights;

b) Irregularities in the preparation and conduct of elections and referendums.

2. The appeal must be submitted within ten days from the discovery of the grounds for appeal, but no later than the tenth day after the official publication of the results in the Official Gazette. In the case of a second round of voting for the election of members of the Council of States, the appeal period is three days.

3. The appeal does not have a suspensive effect.

1. In the following cases, an administrative court appeal to the Administrative Court is permissible in accordance with the Law on Legal Protection in Administrative Matters from April 1, 1976 (Administrative Procedure Act, APA)

a) Declarations of election by the Government Council in the case of uncontested elections in cantonal elections (§ 40 para. 2).

1. The complaint must provide a brief presentation of the facts.

2. In the case of voting and election complaints (§ 67 para. 1 lit. b), it must also be credibly demonstrated that the alleged irregularities were of a nature and scope likely to significantly influence the voting or election result.

1. If the Executive Council identifies irregularities upon appeal or ex officio, it shall take the necessary measures to rectify the deficiencies, if possible, before the conclusion of the voting and electoral process.

2. In the event of a close outcome of a cantonal referendum or a cantonal majority vote, the State Chancellery orders a recount.

3. The Executive Council specifies in the Electoral and Voting Ordinance the conditions under which the outcome of a referendum or a majority vote is considered close.

1. Persons who have been elected to the voting office for a fixed term according to § 5 paragraph 1 may remain in the voting office until the end of their term, even if they no longer meet the requirements of § 5 paragraph 2 in the new version.