The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Swiss parties spent less than CHF1 million on February green vote

Less than a million disbursed for the vote on 9 February
Opponents of the vote on environmental liability invested far more in their campaign than supporters. Keystone-SDA

Swiss political parties spent CHF 700,000 ($840,000) on campaigns in the run-up to the heavily defeated vote on February 9, according to the Swiss Federal Audit Office. These final budgets are much lower than the money spent on previous campaigns.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Opponents of the vote on environmental liability invested far more in their campaign than supporters. The Radical-Liberal Party spent CHF420,000.

The budget for the Young Greens and Greenpeace was half that: CHF245,582. These final budgets are 3% lower than those announced before the vote, according to the Swiss Federal Audit Office on its website.

+ Vote of February 9 in Switzerland

The Young Greens’ initiative, which was rejected by 69.8% of voters, attracted very little interest. Turnout was only 37.9%.

This low level of interest is also reflected in the sums invested by the parties, which are much lower than those allocated to previous campaigns. For example, the total budget devoted to the text on the extension of the motorways on November 24 amounted to almost CHF10 million. Several million were also spent on the other November ballot issues.

Over the 11 votes in 2024, the parties and movements spent CHF47.8 million on their campaigns.

Translated from French by DeepL/ts

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then briefly reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey below to help us understand your needs.

External Content

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Higher direct payments do not stop scrub encroachment on alpine pastures

More

Higher direct payments fail to curb scrub encroachment on alpine pastures

This content was published on The scrub encroachment on Swiss alpine pastures leads to the loss of grassland and damages the typical landscape. It is also responsible for the decline in biodiversity. Despite higher direct payments, the bushes continue to spread.

Read more: Higher direct payments fail to curb scrub encroachment on alpine pastures
Swiss population satisfied with life according to survey

More

Swiss population satisfied with life according to survey

This content was published on In a survey, the population of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland expressed general satisfaction with their lives. Respondents were less happy with politics and their personal finances, according to the online comparison service Moneyland.

Read more: Swiss population satisfied with life according to survey
Millionaires prioritise well-being over material possessions

More

High-net-worth individuals prioritise well-being over material possessions

This content was published on The priorities of wealthy private individuals have shifted against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical tensions and trade disputes. While spending on luxury goods is declining, demand for travel and experiences is unabated.

Read more: High-net-worth individuals prioritise well-being over material possessions
Spanish flu: virus genome deciphered a century later

More

Swiss researchers sequence genome of 1918 Spanish flu virus

This content was published on Researchers from the Universities of Basel and Zurich (UZH) have sequenced the genome of the Spanish flu virus, thanks to a sample taken from an 18-year-old Swiss boy who died in the city on the Limmat in 1918, when the pandemic spread around the world.

Read more: Swiss researchers sequence genome of 1918 Spanish flu virus

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR