2003 Swiss federal election

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 19 October 2003. Although in Switzerland's political system, in which all four major parties form a coalition, it is very difficult to achieve a change of government, this election produced an upset with the strong showing of the right-wing, anti-European Union and anti-immigration Swiss People's Party. The left-wing parties, the Social Democrats and the Greens, also improved their positions. The losers were the parties of the centre and centre-right, the Christian Democratic People's Party and the Free Democratic Party.

2003 Swiss federal election

19 October 2003
Turnout	45.23% 1.93pp
National Council
All 200 seats in the National Council 101 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Swiss People's Ueli Maurer 26.68 55 +11 Social Democrats Christiane Brunner 23.33 52 +1 Free Democrats Christiane Langenberger 17.34 36 −7 Christian Democrats Philipp Stähelin 14.35 28 −7 Greens Ruth Genner 7.43 13 +5 Evangelical People's Ruedi Aeschbacher 2.28 3 0 Liberals Claude Ruey 2.18 4 −2 Federal Democrats Hans Moser 1.26 2 +1 Swiss Democrats Rudolf Keller 0.96 1 0 Labour 0.69 2 0 Feminist & Greens 0.53 1 0 solidaritéS 0.50 1 0 Christian Social 0.36 1 0 Ticino League Giuliano Bignasca 0.35 1 −1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Council of States
All 46 seats in the Council of States 24 seats needed for a majority
Party Seats +/– Christian Democrats 15 0 Free Democrats 14 −3 Social Democrats 9 +3 Swiss People's 8 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Results by canton

In the aftermath of the elections Ruth Metzler-Arnold, one of the two Christian Democrats in the Federal Council was replaced by Christoph Blocher, the most influential politician in the Swiss People's Party.

Electoral system

Switzerland has a bicameral legislature, the Federal Assembly (Assemblée Fédérale / Bundesversammlung / Asamblea Federale / Assemblea Federala).

• The National Council (Conseil National / Nationalrat / Consiglio Nazionale / Cussegl Naziunal) has 200 members, elected for four-year terms by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies corresponding to the 26 Swiss cantons and half-cantons.
• The Council of States (Conseil des Etats / Ständerat / Consiglio degli Stati / Cussegl dals Stadis) has 46 members elected for four-year terms from multi-member and single-member constituencies.

These elections were to the National Council and for most of the members of the Council of States.

All parties in Switzerland have different names in French, German and Italian, and conduct separate campaigns in the different language areas.

Results

National Council

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Swiss People's Party	560,750	26.68	55	+11
	Social Democratic Party	490,385	23.33	52	+1
	Free Democratic Party	364,493	17.34	36	–7
	Christian Democratic People's Party	301,652	14.35	28	–7
	Green Party	156,226	7.43	13	+5
	Evangelical People's Party	47,838	2.28	3	0
	Liberal Party	45,864	2.18	4	–2
	Federal Democratic Union	26,590	1.26	2	+1
	Swiss Democrats	20,177	0.96	1	0
	Swiss Party of Labour	14,595	0.69	2	0
	Feminist and Green Alternative Groups	11,153	0.53	1	0
	Solidarity	10,562	0.50	1	0
	Christian Social Party	7,539	0.36	1	0
	Ticino League	7,304	0.35	1	–1
	Freedom Party	4,000	0.19	0	0
	Other parties	32,913	1.57	0	–
Total		2,102,041	100.00	200	0
Valid votes		2,102,041	97.23
Invalid/blank votes		59,880	2.77
Total votes		2,161,921	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		4,779,733	45.23
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Turnout	Party		Votes	Seats won
Aargau	15	363,920	153,832		Swiss People's Party	778,770	6
					Social Democratic Party	474,727	3
					Christian Democratic People's Party	348,639	2
					Free Democratic Party	342,629	2
					Green Party	133,202	1
					Evangelical People's Party	116,864	1
					Swiss Democrats	32,175	0
					Freedom Party	5,070	0
					Swiss Nationalist Party	2,867	0
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	1	36,047	17,789		Free Democratic Party	7,161	1
					Swiss People's Party	6,680	0
					Social Democratic Party	3,468	0
					Others	131	0
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1	10,228	3,595		Christian Democratic People's Party	2,310	1
					Swiss People's Party	725	0
					Others	300	0
Basel-Landschaft	7	179,186	79,248		Swiss People's Party	144,624	2
					Social Democratic Party	134,620	2
					Free Democratic Party	108,566	1
					Green Party	68,652	1
					Christian Democratic People's Party	54,769	1
					Swiss Democrats	14,707	0
					Evangelical People's Party	14,554	0
					Non-Partisan 4Wb	4,332	0
					Freedom Party	1,107	0
Basel-Stadt	5	116,361	57,735		Social Democratic Party	115,492	3
					Swiss People's Party	52,574	1
					Free Democratic Party	27,975	1
					Liberal Party	23,873	0
					Christian Democratic People's Party	18,612	0
					Green Party	16,122	0
					Strong Alternative Basel	9,893	0
					Evangelical People's Party	8,080	0
					People's Action	4,425	0
					Swiss Democrats	3,122	0
					Federal Democratic Union	2,086	0
Bern	26	685,159	288,679		Swiss People's Party	2,180,961	8
					Social Democratic Party	2,058,317	8
					Free Democratic Party	1,089,897	4
					Green Party	683,025	2
					Evangelical People's Party	379,099	1
					Federal Democratic Union	301,886	1
					Swiss Democrats	196,458	1
					Christian Democratic People's Party	172,639	1
					Romand List	143,558	0
					Freedom Party	77,436	0
					Independent Health Party	64,081	0
					Action Jörg Stettler	16,254	0
Fribourg	7	164,210	74,547		Christian Democratic People's Party	128,063	2
					Social Democratic Party	108,437	2
					Swiss People's Party	107,958	1
					Free Democratic Party	64,369	1
					Christian Social Party	52,766	1
					Green Party	20,305	0
					Free List - Solidarity	11,158	0
					Federal Democratic Union	3,625	0
					Evangelical People's Party	3,614	0
					Independent Movement	2,644	0
					Direct Access	1,694	0
Geneva	11	219,984	101,081		Social Democratic Party	268,703	3
					Swiss People's Party	198,586	2
					Liberal Party	182,517	2
					Christian Democratic People's Party	128,317	1
					Green Party	121,762	1
					Free Democratic Party	79,030	1
					Solidarity	58,903	1
					Party of Labour	29,195	0
					Union of Swiss Patriots	10,735	0
					The Communists	7,506	0
Glarus	1	24,934	6,304		Social Democratic Party	3,811	1
					Christian Democratic People's Party	701	0
					Swiss People's Party	334	0
					Others	831	0
Grisons	5	129,782	50,766		Swiss People's Party	81,012	2
					Social Democratic Party	59,624	1
					Christian Democratic People's Party	56,295	1
					Free Democratic Party	37,849	1
					Federal Democratic Union	4,484	0
Jura	2	48,356	22,552		Christian Democratic People's Party	17,517	1
					Social Democratic Party	15,186	1
					Free Democratic Party	7,243	0
					Swiss People's Party	3,675	0
					Federal Democratic Union	787	0
Lucerne	10	237,537	120,970		Christian Democratic People's Party	345,791	3
					Swiss People's Party	280,566	3
					Free Democratic Party	271,153	2
					Social Democratic Party	130,694	1
					Green Party	115,076	1
					CHance21	18,352	0
					Evangelical People's Party	9,505	0
					Swiss Democrats	4,137	0
Neuchâtel	5	105,235	59,925		Social Democratic Party	74,551	2
					Swiss People's Party	57,279	1
					Free Democratic Party	37,800	1
					Liberal Party	36,808	0
					Green Party	35,247	1
					Party of Labour	7,655	0
					Solidarity	5,630	0
Nidwalden	1	28,266	11,136		Free Democratic Party	7,888	1
					Swiss Democrats	912	0
					Others	111	0
Obwalden	1	22,900	10,471		Christian Democratic People's Party	6,402	1
					Swiss People's Party	3,238	0
					Others	2	0
Schaffhausen	2	48,022	30,349		Social Democratic Party	23,054	1
					Free Democratic Party	16,923	1
					Swiss People's Party	16,565	0
					Christian Democratic People's Party	1,540	0
Schwyz	4	89,902	43,338		Swiss People's Party	72,419	2
					Christian Democratic People's Party	38,894	1
					Social Democratic Party	29,134	1
					Free Democratic Party	25,471	0
Solothurn	7	166,052	78,689		Social Democratic Party	136,667	2
					Free Democratic Party	129,086	2
					Swiss People's Party	120,967	2
					Christian Democratic People's Party	113,193	1
					Green Party	32,283	0
					Evangelical People's Party	6,445	0
St. Gallen	12	291,445	124,786		Swiss People's Party	486,421	4
					Christian Democratic People's Party	326,104	3
					Social Democratic Party	270,353	2
					Free Democratic Party	215,599	2
					Green Party	103,868	1
					Evangelical People's Party	22,118	0
					Federal Democratic Union	16,457	0
					Swiss Democrats	11,165	0
					Catholic People's Party	6,129	0
					Animal Welfare is Human Protection	6,054	0
					Brave and Innovative, One for All	4,957	0
					The East Swiss Party	1,405	0
Ticino	8	198,992	96,760		Free Democratic Party	218,619	2
					Social Democratic Party	189,427	2
					Christian Democratic People's Party	180,320	2
					Ticino League	58,428	1
					Swiss People's Party	55,652	0
					Green Party	21,765	0
					Risorgimento ticinese	9,552	0
Thurgau	6	146,431	62,771		Swiss People's Party	151,591	3
					Christian Democratic People's Party	60,764	1
					Social Democratic Party	52,080	1
					Free Democratic Party	43,909	1
					Green Party	29,282	0
					Swiss Democrats	10,879	0
					Evangelical People's Party	10,020	0
					Federal Democratic Union	7,145	0
					Catholic People's Party	2,557	0
					Freedom Party	1,147	1
Uri	1	25,513	11,323		Free Democratic Party	3,964	1
					Swiss People's Party	3,384	0
					Green Party	3,312	0
					Others	160	0
Vaud	18	373,917	172,119		Social Democratic Party	604,820	4
					Swiss People's Party	567,015	4
					Free Democratic Party	515,592	4
					Green Party	315,430	2
					Liberal Party	308,437	2
					Party of Labour	187,388	2
					Christian Democratic People's Party	128,878	0
					Solidarity	73,483	0
					Federal Democratic Union	49,225	0
					Evangelical People's Party	18,365	0
					Swiss Democrats	9,675	0
					Future + Security	7,268	0
					The Right to Know	6,843	0
Valais	7	190,121	101,344		Christian Democratic People's Party	259,846	3
					Social Democratic Party	128,428	2
					Free Democratic Party	114,910	1
					Swiss People's Party	89,834	1
					Christian Social Party	62,382	0
					Green Party	17,443	0
Zug	3	67,318	35,418		Swiss People's Party	28,715	1
					Christian Democratic People's Party	23,730	1
					Free Democratic Party	23,178	0
					Alternative Kanton Zug	14,095	1
					Social Democratic Party	13,929	0
Zürich	34	810,622	365,859		Swiss People's Party	4,103,136	12
					Social Democratic Party	3,153,112	10
					Free Democratic Party	1,995,988	5
					Green Party	1,040,672	3
					Christian Democratic People's Party	667,236	2
					Evangelical People's Party	504,952	1
					Alternative List	266,063	0
					Federal Democratic Union	253,322	1
					Free Forum	112,781	0
					Swiss Democrats	106,877	0
					Hanf Ueli	23,731	0
					Youth in Parliament!	19,287	0
					Europe Party	12,184	0
					Freedom Party	11,364	0
					Humanist Party	9,730	0
					Die-Jugend.ch	4,206	0
					Danowski	3,631	0
Source: Bundesblatt, 18 November 2003

Council of the States

Party		Seats	+/–
	Christian Democratic People's Party	15	0
	Free Democratic Party	14	–3
	Social Democratic Party	9	+3
	Swiss People's Party	8	+1
Total		46	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

See also

• 2003 Swiss Federal Council election

Bibliography

• Church, Clive H. (May 2004). "The Swiss Elections of October 2003: Two Steps to System Change?". West European Politics. 27 (3): 518–534. doi:10.1080/0140238042000228121.

External links

• Official voting results (in German)