2011 Swiss federal election
Switzerland
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All 200 seats in the National Council (101 seats needed for a majority)
All 46 seats in the Council of States (24 seats needed for a majority)
Turnout48.5% Increase 0.2 pp
Party Leader % Seats +/–
National Council
Swiss People's Toni Brunner 26.6% 54 −8
Social Democrats Christian Levrat 18.7% 46 +3
FDP.The Liberals Fulvio Pelli 15.1% 30 −5
Christian Democrats Christophe Darbellay 12.3% 28 −3
Greens Ueli Leuenberger 8.4% 15 −5
Green Liberals Martin Bäumle 5.4% 12 +9
BDP Hans Grunder 5.4% 9 New
Evangelical People's Heiner Studer 2.0% 2 0
Ticino League Giuliano Bignasca 0.8% 2 +1
Geneva Citizens' Éric Stauffer 0.4% 1 +1
CSP Obwalden Sepp Stalder 0.4% 1 +1
Council of States
Christian Democrats 13 −2
FDP.The Liberals 11 −1
Social Democrats 11 +2
Swiss People's 5 −2
Greens 2 0
Green Liberals 2 +1
BDP 1 New
Independent 1 +1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Map of Swiss cantons shaded by the party that won the most votes. The Swiss People's Party dominated German-speaking Switzerland, while the Social Democrats were the largest in the French-speaking west.
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Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 23 October 2011. All of the Federal Assembly were to be elected: all 200 seats in the National Council and all 46 seats in the Council of States.

Voter turnout was 49.1%, compared to 48.9% in 2007.[1]

National Council

At the last election, in 2007, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) won the highest share of the vote ever recorded for a single party in Switzerland, with 29% of the vote. Soon after, a moderate faction split from the SVP, forming the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP).

In the 2011 election, the two neophyte parties BDP and Green Liberal Party (GLP) were successful, each receiving 5.4% of the popular vote. Both the GLP and the BDP have gained the required five seats to form their own parliamentary groups, suggesting a split of the centrist CVP/EVP/glp group.

All other major parties lost votes, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) for the first time since the 1987 elections. With 26.6% of the popular vote, the SVP is still the strongest party by a comfortable margin, but the 2011 elections marked the end of its rapid growth during the period of 1995–2007.

Of the small parties (below 5 seats), the Evangelical People's Party received 2.0% of the vote (+0.4%), retaining its two seats. The Ticino League received 0.8% of the vote (+0.2%) and gains one seat, now holding two.

The Christian Social Party lost one seat, but gained another to remain in the National Council, while the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland and Swiss Party of Labour lost their single seats. Other minor groups which gathered more than 0.1% of the popular vote are: the Swiss Pirate Party (0.48%), the Swiss Democrats (0.20%), parteifrei.ch (0.19%) and Tierpartei Schweiz (0.15%).

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Swiss People's Party648,67526.6154−8
Social Democratic Party457,31718.7646+3
FDP.The Liberals368,95115.1330−1
Christian Democratic People's Party300,54412.3328−3
Green Party205,9848.4515−5
Green Liberal Party131,4365.3912+9
Conservative Democratic Party132,2795.439+9
Evangelical People's Party48,7892.0020
Ticino League19,6570.812+1
Geneva Citizens' Movement10,7140.441+1
Federal Democratic Union31,0561.270−1
Swiss Party of Labour21,4820.880−1
Christian Social Party6,2480.260–1
Others54,6222.241–
Total2,437,754100.002000
Valid votes2,437,75498.08
Invalid/blank votes47,6491.92
Total votes2,485,403100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,124,03448.50
Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in French) Statistics Switzerland (in German) Turnout

By constituency

Constituency Seats Electorate Turnout Party Votes Seats
won
Aargau 15 399,092 193,601 Swiss People's Party 954,360 6
Social Democratic Party 495,540 3
FDP.The Liberals 315,427 2
Christian Democratic People's Party 290,964 1
Green Party 200,654 1
Conservative Democratic Party 168,731 1
Green Liberal Party 155,684 1
Evangelical People's Party 88,483 0
Federal Democratic Union 32,180 0
Pirate Party 21,274 0
Social Liberal Movement 13,087 0
Swiss Democrats 10,419 0
Appenzell Ausserrhoden 1 37,678 17,900 FDP.The Liberals 8,970 1
Swiss People's Party 5,312 0
Christian Democratic People's Party 1,840 0
Green Party 1,114 0
Others 178 0
Appenzell Innerrhoden 1 11,358 4,232 Christian Democratic People's Party 3,107 1
Social Democratic Party 830 0
Others 146 0
Basel-Landschaft 7 186,806 89,949 Swiss People's Party 165,995 2
Social Democratic Party 150,583 2
Green Party 83,779 1
FDP.The Liberals 68,710 1
Christian Democratic People's Party 50,782 1
Conservative Democratic Party 39,129 0
Green Liberal Party 30,811 0
Evangelical People's Party 20,248 0
Swiss Democrats 4,162 0
Basel-Stadt 5 114,064 57,337 Social Democratic Party 80,673 2
Swiss People's Party 45,771 1
FDP.The Liberals 53,004 1
Green Party 37,228 0
Christian Democratic People's Party 18,082 1
Green Liberal Party 16,139 0
Evangelical People's Party 6,920 0
Conservative Democratic Party 6,180 0
Pirate Party 5,314 0
People's Action 4,048 0
Federal Democratic Union 1,418 0
parteifrei.ch 1,337 0
Free State of Lower Kleinbasel 901 0
Bern 26 713,938 359,576 Swiss People's Party 2,663,863 8
Social Democratic Party 1,776,105 6
Conservative Democratic Party 1,367,428 4
Green Party 865,168 3
FDP.The Liberals 795,408 2
Green Liberal Party 486,254 2
Evangelical People's Party 383,525 1
Federal Democratic Union 285,235 0
Christian Democratic People's Party 167,212 0
Pirate Party 67,509 0
Swiss Democrats 51,549 0
Alternative Left 42,439 0
Jimy Hofer plus 37,178 0
Alpenparlament 36,635 0
Party of Labour 31,487 0
Swiss Nationalist Party 27,717 0
Social Liberal Movement 25,420 0
Liberal Socialists 22,697 0
parteifrei.ch 21,378 0
Les Rauraques 17,911 0
Animal Party 17,505 0
Fribourg 7 185,485 87,582 Social Democratic Party 157,679 3
Swiss People's Party 126,759 1
Christian Democratic People's Party 119,710 2
FDP.The Liberals 75,636 1
Christian Social Party 32,325 0
Green Party 29,286 0
Green Liberal Party 20,979 0
Conservative Democratic Party 11,180 0
Federal Democratic Union 4,183 0
Evangelical People's Party 4,124 0
Pirate Party 3,630 0
parteifrei.ch 2,599 0
Integral Politics 1,525 0
Independent Citizens' Movement 1,360 0
Geneva 11 240,126 101,795 Social Democratic Party 208,505 3
FDP.The Liberals 203,187 2
Swiss People's Party 174,604 2
Green Party 152,800 2
Citizens' Movement 106,592 1
Christian Democratic People's Party 106,486 1
Solidarity 56,711 0
Green Liberal Party 34,528 0
Party of Labour 13,932 0
Evangelical People's Party 11,085 0
Pirate Party 9,806 0
The Combative Left 4,918 0
Alliance BLEUE 2,819 0
Glarus 1 26,078 8,915 Conservative Democratic Party 5,066 1
Social Democratic Party 2,016 0
Swiss People's Party 228 0
Green Party 116 0
Others 783 0
Grisons 5 135,141 60,965 Swiss People's Party 72,290 1
Conservative Democratic Party 60,387 1
Christian Democratic People's Party 49,117 1
Social Democratic Party 46,075 1
FDP.The Liberals 35,134 0
Green Liberal Party 24,357 1
Green Party 6,371 0
Federal Democratic Union 1,499 0
Jura 2 50,629 22,472 Christian Democratic People's Party 14,602 1
Social Democratic Party 13,540 1
Swiss People's Party 6,792 0
Green Party 4,816 0
FDP.The Liberals 4,171 0
Lucerne 10 260,101 132,448 Christian Democratic People's Party 349,729 3
Swiss People's Party 323,783 2
FDP.The Liberals 237,031 2
Social Democratic Party 147,927 1
Green Party 106,756 1
Green Liberal Party 78,964 1
Conservative Democratic Party 27,586 0
Evangelical People's Party 9,619 0
Animal Party 6,541 0
parteifrei.ch 1,946 0
Neuchâtel 5 109,926 46,601 FDP.The Liberals 60,247 2
Social Democratic Party 55,451 1
Swiss People's Party 47,967 1
Green Party 26,137 1
Party of Labour 23,329 0
Christian Democratic People's Party 7,833 0
Conservative Democratic Party 3,331 0
Nidwalden 1 30,363 18,501 Swiss People's Party 8,060 1
FDP.The Liberals 6,273 0
Green Party 3,487 0
Obwalden 1 25,221 16,209 Christian Democratic People's Party 8,896 1
Swiss People's Party 6,739 0
Schaffhausen 2 49,783 30,263 Swiss People's Party 23,362 1
Social Democratic Party 20,256 1
FDP.The Liberals 7,206 0
Christian Democratic People's Party 3,064 0
Federal Democratic Union 2,218 0
Alternative Left 2,503 0
Schwyz 4 98,193 49,221 Swiss People's Party 72,008 1
FDP.The Liberals 39,557 1
Christian Democratic People's Party 38,964 1
Social Democratic Party 28,017 1
Green Party 3,797 0
Atom Free - Yes to Sun and Wood 3,466 0
Evangelical People's Party 2,097 0
Fresher Wind 1,665 0
Solothurn 7 173,356 89,651 Swiss People's Party 148,710 2
FDP.The Liberals 112,529 1
Social Democratic Party 111,894 2
Christian Democratic People's Party 109,152 2
Green Party 45,833 0
Green Liberal Party 30,415 0
Conservative Democratic Party 26,675 0
Evangelical People's Party 8,940 0
parteifrei.ch 8,182 0
Animal Party 6,009 0
Federal Democratic Union 2,968 0
St. Gallen 12 311,495 145,657 Swiss People's Party 536,150 4
Christian Democratic People's Party 345,617 3
Social Democratic Party 283,803 2
FDP.The Liberals 208,587 1
Green Party 108,708 1
Green Liberal Party 101,598 1
Conservative Democratic Party 64,450 0
Evangelical People's Party 31,057 0
Federal Democratic Union 20,810 0
Ticino 8 212,103 115,173 FDP.The Liberals 214,814 2
Christian Democratic People's Party 172,574 2
Ticino League 151,647 2
Social Democratic Party 143,517 1
Swiss People's Party 83,919 1
Green Party 58,278 0
Communist Party 10,560 0
Green Liberal Party 9,098 0
Strengthening the Family 2,437 0
Svizzera Italiana 2,227 0
Thurgau 6 160,453 74,975 Swiss People's Party 168,239 3
Christian Democratic People's Party 62,525 1
Social Democratic Party 52,557 1
FDP.The Liberals 48,936 0
Green Party 30,609 1
Green Liberal Party 22,684 0
Conservative Democratic Party 21,570 0
Federal Democratic Union 15,148 0
Evangelical People's Party 12,747 0
Uri 1 26,110 12,979 FDP.The Liberals 9,005 1
Social Democratic Party 2,603 0
Others 517 0
Vaud 18 410,956 171,084 Social Democratic Party 742,728 6
Swiss People's Party 677,170 4
FDP.The Liberals 649,372 4
Green Party 341,711 2
Green Liberal Party 150,585 1
Christian Democratic People's Party 136,616 1
Party of Labour 115,915 0
Solidarity 53,329 0
Federal Democratic Union 32,392 0
Evangelical People's Party 31,424 0
Pirate Party 29,125 0
Conservative Democratic Party 24,547 0
Citizens' Movement 15,610 0
Swiss Democrats 2,597 0
Swiss Nationalist Party 2,389 0
Valais 7 205,917 127,351 Christian Democratic People's Party 262,263 3
Swiss People's Party 166,508 1
FDP.The Liberals 159,046 1
Social Democratic Party 129,797 2
Christian Social Party 75,322 0
Green Party 42,219 0
Alternative Left 5,497 0
Conservative Democratic Party 5,341 0
Zug 3 71,845 35,121 Swiss People's Party 33,116 1
Christian Democratic People's Party 28,413 1
FDP.The Liberals 22,494 1
Green Party 17,972 0
Green Liberal Party 7,943 0
Social Democratic Party 6,167 0
Christian Social Party 868 0
Zürich 34 877,817 410,976 Swiss People's Party 4,135,959 11
Social Democratic Party 2,671,328 7
FDP.The Liberals 1,613,851 4
Green Liberal Party 1,591,924 4
Green Party 1,163,522 3
Conservative Democratic Party 731,501 2
Christian Democratic People's Party 697,240 2
Evangelical People's Party 425,520 1
Federal Democratic Union 300,540 0
Alternative Left 141,788 0
Pirate Party 119,400 0
parteifrei.ch 60,471 0
Animal Party 55,466 0
Swiss Democrats 39,012 0
Party of Labour 33,100 0
Fools Party 8,521 0
Anti-PowerPoint Party 4,796 0
Subitas 1,989 0
Source: Bundesblatt, 22 November 2011

Council of States

The elections of the Council of States are done by a plurality voting system. 27 out of 46 seats were determined on the first ballot on 23 October; the remaining 19 seats were decided in a second ballot held in November.

PartySeats+/–
Christian Democratic People's Party13–2
FDP.The Liberals11-1
Social Democratic Party11+2
Swiss People's Party5–2
Green Party20
Green Liberal Party2+1
Conservative Democratic Party1+1
Independents1+1
Total460
Source: Politik-Stat

By canton

Canton Seat 1 Party Seat 2 Party
ZH Zurich Felix Gutzwiller * FDP.The Liberals Verena Diener * Green Liberal Party
BE Berne Werner Luginbühl * Conservative Democratic Party Hans Stöckli Social Democratic Party
LU Lucerne Konrad Graber * Christian Democratic People's Party Georges Theiler FDP.The Liberals
UR Uri Isidor Baumann Christian Democratic People's Party Markus Stadler * Green Liberal Party
SZ Schwyz Alex Kuprecht * Swiss People's Party Peter Föhn Swiss People's Party
OW Obwald Hans Hess * FDP.The Liberals N/A
NW Nidwald Paul Niederberger * Christian Democratic People's Party N/A
GL Glaris This Jenny * Swiss People's Party Pankraz Freitag * FDP.The Liberals
ZG Zoug Joachim Eder FDP.The Liberals Peter Bieri * Christian Democratic People's Party
FR Friburg Alain Berset * Social Democratic Party Urs Schwaller * Christian Democratic People's Party
SO Soleure Roberto Zanetti * Social Democratic Party Pirmin Bischof Christian Democratic People's Party
BS Basle-City Anita Fetz * Social Democratic Party N/A
BL Basle-Country Claude Janiak Social Democratic Party N/A
SH Schaffhouse Hannes Germann * Swiss People's Party Thomas Minder Independent
AI Appenzell Inner-Rhodes Ivo Bischofberger * Christian Democratic People's Party N/A
AR Appenzell Outer-Rhodes Hans Altherr * FDP.The Liberals N/A
SG St Gall Karin Keller-Sutter FDP.The Liberals Paul Rechsteiner Social Democratic Party
GR Grisons Martin Schmid FDP.The Liberals Stefan Engler Christian Democratic People's Party
AG Argovia Pascale Bruderer Social Democratic Party Christine Egerszegi * FDP.The Liberals
TG Thurgovia Roland Eberle Swiss People's Party Brigitte Häberli-Koller Christian Democratic People's Party
TI Tessin Filippo Lombardi * Christian Democratic People's Party Fabio Abate FDP.The Liberals
VD Vaud Géraldine Savary * Social Democratic Party Luc Recordon * Green Party
VS Valais Jean-René Fournier * Christian Democratic People's Party René Imoberdorf * Christian Democratic People's Party
NE Neuchâtel Didier Berberat * Social Democratic Party Raphaël Comte * FDP.The Liberals
GE Geneva Liliane Maury Pasquier * Social Democratic Party Robert Cramer * Green Party
JU Jura Claude Hêche * Social Democratic Party Anne Seydoux-Christe * Christian Democratic People's Party
* indicates a candidate that was re-elected. Source: Federal Chancellery

Pre-election polls

Pollster Date SVP SPS FDP CVP GPS GLP BDP EVP EDU PdA LdT CSP oth.
gfs.bern[2] 1–8 October 2011 29.3 19.9 15.2 14.2 9.3 4.9 3.6 1.5 1.0 n.c. n.c. n.c. 1.1
Isopublic[3] 1–23 September 2011 28.2 20.3 15.7 14.2 9.8 5.2 3.2 n.c. n.c. n.c. n.c. n.c. 3.4
gfs.bern[4] 23 August – 3 September 2011 28.0 20.5 15.6 14.5 9.5 4.5 3.1 1.6 1.0 n.c. n.c. n.c. 1.7
demoscope.ch[5] 25 July – 6 August 2011 24.8 19.5 17.8 12.4 9.9 7.2 3.0 n.c. n.c. n.c. n.c. n.c. 5.4
gfs.bern[4] 25 July – 6 August 2011 27.4 18.5 16.1 15.0 10.1 4.6 2.9 1.7 1.7 n.c. n.c. n.c. 2.0
gfs.bern[6] 13–26 June 2011 27.5 18.9 15.0 13.4 10.0 5.2 3.0 2.4 1.3 n.c. n.c. n.c. 3.3
Isopublic[7] 8–18 June 2011 28.7 18.6 13.9 13.2 9.9 8.0 3.7 1.0 0.1 n.c. n.c. 0.2 1.8
gfs.bern[6] 4–16 April 2011 29.9 17.7 15.2 12.7 10.9 5.7 3.5 1.5 1.1 n.c n.c n.c 1.8
Isopublic[8] 17–26 March 2011 25.4 18.2 15.4 14.3 10.5 6.1 2.8 n.c n.c n.c n.c n.c 7.3
gfs.bern[6] 10–22 January 2011 29.8 18.0 17.7 12.9 8.8 5.2 2.6 2.2 1.5 n.c n.c n.c 1.4
Isopublic[9] 10–21 December 2010 26.0 19.1 17.1 13.8 9.1 3.2 4.5 1.4 1.2 0.5 n.c n.c 4.1
gfs.bern[6] 28 Sept. – 11 Oct. 2010 26.1 20.1 17.2 14.1 8.5 3.8 3.6 2.4 0.6 0.7 0.2 0.7 2.0
2007 federal election[10] 21 October 2007 28.9 19.5 17.7 14.5 9.6 1.4 — 2.4 1.3 0.7 0.6 0.4 2.9

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Wahlbeteiligung 2011". Politik-stat.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. ^ "gfs.bern AG - öffentliche Meinung; Umfragen; Issue-Analysen; Politik, Kommunikation, Gesellschaft, Trends". Gfsbern.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Detail - SonntagsZeitung". Sonntagszeitung.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Archived copy". www.gfsbern.ch. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2022.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "demoscope.ch" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d "Barometer of voting". Kunden.gfsbern.ch. Archived from the original (JPG) on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Auswertung ISOPUBLIC POLITBAROMETER im Auftrag der SonntagsZeitung & Le Matin Dimanche" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  8. ^ "Einen Moment bitte, die Ausgabe wird geladen" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  9. ^ "ISOPUBLIC POLITBAROMETER im Auftrag der SonntagsZeitung & Le Matin Dimanche" (PDF). Isopublic.ch. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  10. ^ "politiquesuisse.5gigs.net". Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.

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