Zurich parliament rejects local voting rights for non-Swiss residents
Keystone / Georgios Kefalas
Foreigners living in Switzerland’s most populous canton will continue to be unable to vote or be elected at the municipal level following a vote by Zurich’s parliament.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/sb
Español
es
Zúrich rechaza el derecho de voto a su población extranjera
On Monday Zurich parliament narrowly turned down – 84 against, 82 for, and two abstentions – a proposal by city officials to grant local voting rights to non-Swiss passport holders in Zurich.
The initiative, pushed by left-of-centre parties, would have allowed municipalities to decide themselves whether to introduce voting rights for foreigners at the communal level.
Supporters of the initiative had pointed to positive voting experiences in other cantons.
Eight of the 26 cantons (Vaud, Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura, Fribourg, Appenzell Outer Rhodes, Graubünden and Basel City) and some 600 municipalities, notably in French-speaking western Switzerland, offer voting rights to non-Swiss passport holders, who represent a quarter of the total population of 8.7 million.
But opponents in Zurich argued that foreigners should obtain the right to vote and stand for election at all levels via the naturalisation process, as is currently the case.
In 2019, Zurich’s mayor, Corine Mauch, announced plans to launch an initiative to give foreigners living in Zurich the right to take part in local votes and elections.
“Almost a third of the city’s population has no voting rights, and among 30-39-year-olds – the largest age group – it’s around a half,” she said. “In a very active phase of their life, these people have no decision-making power.”
In 2013, a similar initiative to give the vote to non-Swiss in canton Zurich – in this case, those resident for ten years – was rejected by three-quarters of voters.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Swiss price watchdog negotiates lower fees for card payments
This content was published on
Small businesses in Switzerland will have to pay fewer fees for cashless payments from customers over the next few years.
Lakes in Central Switzerland have best water quality for bathing
This content was published on
Anyone who swims in a lake in Central Switzerland need have no fear of infection from intestinal bacteria. The water samples taken at 65 bathing sites in 13 lakes all have good to excellent bathing water quality.
This content was published on
Unknown assailants have stolen a historic ring from a Basel museum. The stolen item was a gift from Russian Tsar Alexander I to his host in Basel in 1814.
More May hotel guests in Basel than at any time in past 90 years
This content was published on
Basel hotels recorded 150,854 overnight stays for the Eurovision Song Contest in May. This corresponds to a year-on-year increase of 8.4%.
Demand remains high for rental flats in Switzerland
This content was published on
More rental flats are once again being advertised on property portals in Switzerland. However, demand also remains very high.
One in five Europeans exposed to too much traffic noise
This content was published on
More than one in five Europeans are exposed to unhealthily high levels of traffic noise, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
New living space through densification often comes at expense of the poor
This content was published on
If demolition and new construction are carried out and tenants have to make way, low-income households are affected more often than average.
This content was published on
The ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war has visibly eased tensions on the financial markets. The SMI, Switzerland's leading stock market index, has risen above the 12,000 point mark again.
This content was published on
Geneva, which is facing several days of very hot weather, has raised its level of vigilance with regard to the risk of forest fires and is issuing an appeal for caution.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
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.