Young Swiss women vote less often
A new study shows a significant drop in the number of women between 18 and 29 years of age who exercise their voting rights.
Since women gained the vote in Switzerland 40 years ago, the number in this age group going to the polls dropped from 38 to 26 per cent.
In the study commissioned by the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, political scientist Georg Lutz said there had also been a trend showing young men voting more frequently for rightwing parties.
Lutz said only 16 per cent of young men supported the rightwing in 1995 but this figure rose sharply and was at 36 per cent in 2007.
The findings are based on data from elections to both parliamentary chambers as well as from election surveys.
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