Municipal elections GE Another suspected case of electoral fraud in the Geneva municipality of Vernier
Suspicions of irregularities have once again surfaced in the municipal elections in Vernier GE. More than 200 ballot papers could have been filled in by the same people.
30.11.2025, 17:52
SDA
"The State Chancellery has commissioned a graphological report," said FDP State Councillor Nathalie Fontanet to the media on Sunday. This handwriting analysis will relate exclusively to the handwritten ballot papers.
The results of the graphological report are expected in the next two weeks. All party lists are affected to varying degrees by the irregularities. The suspicious ballot papers account for three percent of the ballot papers received.
According to the Geneva State Chancellery, a further annulment of the elections cannot be ruled out. The State Chancellery has also filed four criminal complaints with the Geneva judiciary: two based on its own findings and two based on reports from citizens.
In this new election, controls were stepped up in the run-up to and on Sunday at the polling stations after the election was declared invalid by the judiciary last March due to suspected fraud. The criminal proceedings for this first part are still ongoing.
Before the first election was annulled, the Libertés et justice sociale (LJS) movement had won a victory. This new grouping led by State Councillor Pierre Maudet (formerly of the FDP) won six seats at the first attempt.
Two female candidates, one from the FDP and one from the SP, were placed on the LJS list conspicuously often and thus achieved excellent results. This statistical oddity raised suspicions of electoral fraud. On the basis of a graphological report, the judiciary finally established that 278 ballot papers had been filled in by the same nine people.
In this context, the LJS refrained from drawing up a list this time, but several of its candidates stood again on a new list called Egalité & Diversité (LED). In a statement released on Sunday, the group wrote that there were no confirmed responsibilities at this stage, but that any of its members involved would be immediately expelled.
