Voters in the central Swiss canton of Glarus have overwhelmingly rejected giving foreigners the right to vote at both cantonal and communal levels.
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At their traditional annual open-air meeting (Landsgemeinde) in the town centre on Sunday, they decided against supporting a plan put forward by 80 people who said that foreigners who lived, worked and paid taxes in the canton should also have the right to vote.
After a lengthy discussion on the issue, held under heavy rain, the meeting voted in favour of a recommendation made by the Glarus government and parliament.
This argued that the way to have a say in local politics was to gain Swiss citizenship. The right to vote, it added, came at the end of the integration process of foreigners and not at the beginning.
Only cantons Neuchâtel and Jura in the western French-speaking part of Switzerland have introduced voting for foreigners at both cantonal and communal levels.
But a number of cantons have introduced voting for foreigners with various restrictions.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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Political rights for foreigners – who make up 20 per cent of the Swiss population – vary from canton to canton, with the majority according no voting rights to non-Swiss inhabitants. The motion, which was debated in Bern’s cantonal parliament on Tuesday, wanted to leave it up to each commune in the canton to decide…
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Turnout was low among foreigners in cantons Fribourg and Vaud, where they were allowed to vote in municipal elections for the first time. Foreign participation in such elections was unprecedented. “We have no studies or past experiences to look at,” said political analyst, René Knüsel, of Lausanne University. Knüsel said the only conclusion to be…
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Swiss citizens are called to cast their votes several times every year. They have the final say on specific issues, amending the constitution and challenging parliamentary decisions. They also elect local, cantonal and federal parliaments.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.