Cantonal Council SZ Schwyz parliament leaves cantonal council election law as it is

On Wednesday, the Schwyz Cantonal Council spoke out against a residency requirement for cantonal council elections. Two proposals from the Center Party and the Social Democratic Party, which sought to rectify shortcomings in the current electoral system, also failed by a relatively narrow margin.

During this year's cantonal council elections, "complete strangers" who were not resident in the municipality in question stood as candidates in various municipalities, criticized Willy Gisler (SVP) at the September session. The aim of the cantonal council election law should be to ensure that one's own municipality is fairly represented in the cantonal council. Accordingly, he called for a residency requirement.

In its response to the motion, the government spoke out against a residency requirement. The fact that people could be elected who did not live in the municipality would have no direct impact on the electoral system, the double Pukelsheim.

However, she adds that the issue of residence has an indirect influence. Namely, parties could increase their voter potential by having lists in several municipalities. It is therefore advantageous for the parties if people who do not live in a particular municipality can also stand for election.

Parties demand options

A residence requirement would restrict the population's right to vote, said Jonathan Prelicz (SP). Dominik Stocker (GLP) added that the choice of a candidate is the responsibility of the voter. A residency requirement would be tantamount to paternalism.

Matthias Kessler (center) argued that the majority of people would only be elected anyway if they were rooted in a municipality. "It's about offering the municipalities a choice." If there is only one party to vote for in certain municipalities, this restricts the options.

Thomas Grieder (FDP) emphasized that there is also no residency requirement for municipal and district elections, where communal issues are at stake. It was therefore not logical to demand a residence requirement for cantonal interests.

The SVP defended itself against the accusation that the motion was only about "retaining power". It was much more about municipalities putting up candidates who would also represent their regional interests in parliament, said Tony Ulrich.

The motion was rejected by 66 votes to 27 with three abstentions.

Heads instead of empty lists

In motions with similar wording, the Center Party and the SP called for the electoral law to be amended so that in municipalities with only a few candidates, it would also be possible to vote for a list. In this way, people who would like to vote for another party would not be excluded from the democratic process, wrote Peter Nötzli (SP) in the motion.

The current electoral system has "serious flaws", said Franz-Xaver Risi (center). "People should be able to vote according to their preferences."

The proposal was criticized by the SVP. "People want to vote for people and not empty lists," said Willy Keller. It is the parties' responsibility to find suitable candidates. There is a lot of work behind it. Simply presenting blank slips of paper is of course easier.

The government also spoke out against the motions. The technical implementation would be challenging and the elections would become more complicated as a result, said government councillor Xaver Schuler (SVP). "It is time for calm to return to the cantonal council election law. The law must serve the people and not momentary strategic electoral considerations."

Both motions were rejected by 42 votes to 53.