Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 28 October 1917. The Free Democratic Party retained its majority in the National Council.[1] They were the last elections held under the majoritarian system; following a referendum in 1918 in which two-thirds of voters voted for the introduction of proportional representation, the electoral system was changed and early elections held in 1919.
Electoral system
editThe 189 members of the National Council were elected in 49 single- and multi-member constituencies using a three-round system. Candidates had to receive a majority in the first or second round to be elected; if it went to a third round, only a plurality was required. Voters could cast as many votes as there were seats in their constituency.[2] There was one seat for every 20,000 citizens, with seats allocated to cantons in proportion to their population.[2]
Results
editVoter turnout was highest in Schaffhausen (where voting was compulsory) at 86.8% and lowest in Uri at 23.4%.
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Free Democratic Party | 210,323 | 40.84 | 103 | –9 | |
| Social Democratic Party | 158,450 | 30.77 | 20 | +2 | |
| Conservative People's Party | 84,784 | 16.46 | 42 | +5 | |
| Liberal Democratic Party | 25,188 | 4.89 | 12 | –4 | |
| Democratic Group | 16,818 | 3.27 | 7 | +3 | |
| Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents | 19,459 | 3.78 | 4 | +3 | |
| Others | 1 | +1 | |||
| Total | 515,022 | 100.00 | 189 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 515,022 | 94.04 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 32,630 | 5.96 | |||
| Total votes | 547,652 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 915,552 | 59.82 | |||
| Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] BFS (seats) | |||||
By constituency
edit| Constituency | Seats | Party | Seats won |
Elected members | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zürich 1 | 7 | Free Democratic Party | 7 |
| |
| Zürich 2 | 5 | Social Democratic Party | 5 |
| |
| Zürich 3 | 5 | Free Democratic Party | 4 |
| |
| Liberal Party | 1 | Johann Rudolf Amsler | |||
| Zürich 4 | 5 | Free Democratic Party | 4 |
| |
| Social Democratic Party | 1 | Friedrich Studer | |||
| Zürich 5 | 3 | Democratic Group | 2 |
| |
| Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents | 1 | Friedrich Bopp | |||
| Bern 6 | 6 | Free Democratic Party | 6 |
| |
| Bern 7 | 7 | Social Democratic Party | 3 |
| |
| Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |||
| Liberal Party | 1 | Fritz Burren | |||
| Bern 8 | 4 | Free Democratic Party | 4 |
| |
| Bern 9 | 4 | Free Democratic Party | 2 |
| |
| Social Democratic Party | 2 |
| |||
| Bern 10 | 5 | Free Democratic Party | 4 |
| |
| Social Democratic Party | 1 | Arnold Knellwolf | |||
| Bern 11 | 3 | Social Democratic Party | 2 |
| |
| Conservative People's Party | 1 | Xavier Jobin | |||
| Bern 12 | 3 | Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |
| Social Democratic Party | 1 | Maurice Goetschel | |||
| Lucerne 13 | 3 | Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |
| Lucerne 14 | 2 | Conservative People's Party | 3 |
| |
| Lucerne 15 | 3 | Conservative People's Party | 3 |
| |
| Uri 16 | 1 | Free Democratic Party | 1 | Martin Gamma | |
| Schwyz 17 | 3 | Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |
| Free Democratic Party | 1 | Martin Steinegger | |||
| Obwalden 18 | 1 | Conservative People's Party | 1 | Peter Anton Ming | |
| Nidwalden 19 | 1 | Conservative People's Party | 1 | Hans von Matt Jr. | |
| Glarus 20 | 2 | Democratic Group | 1 | Eduard Blumer | |
| Free Democratic Party | 1 | Heinrich Jenny | |||
| Zug 21 | 1 | Free Democratic Party | 1 | Hermann Stadlin | |
| Fribourg 22 | 2 | Conservative People's Party | 1 | Eugène Descheneaux | |
| Free Democratic Party | 1 | Hermann Liechti | |||
| Fribourg 23 | 5 | Conservative People's Party | 4 |
| |
| Free Democratic Party | 1 | A.-F.-L. Cailler | |||
| Solothurn 24 | 6 | Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |
| Free Democratic Party | 2 |
| |||
| Social Democratic Party | 2 |
| |||
| Basel-Stadt 25 | 7 | Free Democratic Party | 2 |
| |
| Liberal Party | 1 | Paul Speiser | |||
| Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents | 1 | Rudolf Gelpke | |||
| Democratic Group | 1 | Karl-Oskar Schär | |||
| Social Democratic Party | 1 | Johannes Frei | |||
| Conservative People's Party | 1 | Ernst Feigenwinter | |||
| Basel-Landschaft 26 | 4 | Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |
| Independent | 1 | Heinrich Strub | |||
| Schaffhausen 27 | 2 | Free Democratic Party | 2 |
| |
| Appenzell Ausserrhoden 28 | 3 | Free Democratic Party | 2 |
| |
| Social Democratic Party | 1 | Howard Eugster | |||
| Appenzell Innerhoden 29 | 1 | Conservative People's Party | 1 | Adolf Steuble | |
| St. Gallen 30 | 4 | Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |
| Democratic Group | 1 | J. A. Scherrer-Füllemann | |||
| St. Gallen 31 | 4 | Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |
| Democratic Group | 1 | Heinrich Otto Weber | |||
| Free Democratic Party | 1 | Ernst Schmidheiny | |||
| St. Gallen 32 | 3 | Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |
| St. Gallen 33 | 2 | Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |
| St. Gallen 34 | 2 | Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |
| Grisons 35 | 6 | Free Democratic Party | 4 |
| |
| Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |||
| Aargau 36 | 3 | Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |
| Aargau 37 | 4 | Free Democratic Party | 4 |
| |
| Aargau 38 | 1 | Conservative People's Party | 1 | Jakob Nietlispach | |
| Aargau 39 | 4 | Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |
| Free Democratic Party | 2 |
| |||
| Thurgau 40 | 7 | Free Democratic Party | 4 |
| |
| Democratic Group | 1 | Emil Hofmann | |||
| Conservative People's Party | 1 | Alfons von Streng | |||
| Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents | 1 | Carl Eigenmann | |||
| Ticino 41 | 4 | Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |
| Conservative People's Party | 1 | Antonio Luigi Riva | |||
| Ticino 42 | 4 | Free Democratic Party | 2 |
| |
| Conservative People's Party | 2 |
| |||
| Vaud 43 | 8 | Free Democratic Party | 5 |
| |
| Liberal Party | 3 |
| |||
| Vaud 44 | 5 | Free Democratic Party | 4 |
| |
| Liberal Party | 1 | Armand Piguet | |||
| Vaud 45 | 3 | Free Democratic Party | 2 |
| |
| Liberal Party | 1 | Jean Yersin | |||
| Valais 46 | 4 | Conservative People's Party | 4 |
| |
| Valais 47 | 2 | Conservative People's Party | 1 | Jules Tissières | |
| Free Democratic Party | 1 | Eugène de Lavallaz | |||
| Neuchâtel 48 | 7 | Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |
| Liberal Party | 2 |
| |||
| Social Democratic Party | 2 |
| |||
| Geneva 49 | 8 | Liberal Party | 3 |
| |
| Free Democratic Party | 3 |
| |||
| Social Democratic Party | 1 | Jean Sigg | |||
| Conservative People's Party | 1 | Firmin Ody | |||
| Source: Gruner[4] | |||||
References
edit- ^ Elections to the National Council 1848–1917: Distribution of seats by party or political orientation Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine BFS
- ^ a b Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1886 ISBN 9783832956097
- ^ Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan
- ^ Gruner, Erich. Die Wahlen in den Schweizerischen Nationalrat 1848–1919. Vol. 3.