The electoral hurdle should be slightly lowered

According to a majority of the commission, smaller parties should be relieved of their participation in cantonal elections. (Photo Walter Bieri / Keystone)

In the canton of Zurich, a party can conquer a seat in the Cantonal Council (or Zurich City Council) only if it obtains more than 5% of the votes in at least a constituency. At this hurdle, small parties have failed again and again in the past. The most discussed was the departure of the EPP from the Zurich City Council four years ago – and that of the CVP in the elections this year. However, in recent years, several attempts have failed to reduce the hurdle – both at the polls and in court.

AL, EDU and BDP would be out

A parliamentary initiative of Claudio Schmid (please) And Martin Romer (at that time fdp, Now bdp.) Now, look exactly the opposite: He demands that only in The Council Cantonal can collect all those who reach 3% of the vote in the whole canton. It's more difficult for smaller parties. In any case, with the new provision, AL, EDU and BDP would no longer be represented. The initiators argue above all that with the dispersion of votes and many small parties in parliament, the council will be ineffective. It was important that the parties participate in the Cantonal Council, which was well represented throughout the canton and had corresponding support in the population.

The State and Municipal Commission began its deliberations on business as part of the celebrations for the centennial of proportional representation in the township – with an exceptionally public meeting. A year later, the Commission presents a counterproposal to the initiative, which does not provide for an increase but rather a slight reduction in the obstacle. In the future, board seats should get more than 5 percent in a riding or 3 percent in the entire township.

CVP could have saved itself

In the last two cantonal elections, the new regulation would not have changed anything at the exit. On the other hand, in the city of Zurich, the CVP would have been spared by the expulsion of the city council. It did not reach 5% of the population on March 4 in all constituencies, but it reached a total participation rate of 3.7%. So, it would not have come to the somewhat absurd situation that the EPP with a much smaller share of voters of only 2.8 percent today in the city council is represented; she was able to cross the 5% hurdle in two constituencies – with the BDP.

The Commission supports the counterproposal in a report from 9 to 6, while SVP and FDP voted in favor. In a press release, the majority of the Commission members state that it is important that as many parties as possible vote is taken into account when allocating seats. Today, this is true for 99.3% of the votes, with the initiative of only 91%. The counterproposal corresponds to the model already practiced in the Canton of Aargau for some time.

Open Debate

In deliberation, the GLP proposed to abandon an obstacle. The counterproposal is also seen as a kind of compromise between the initiative and the GLP application. The Government Council rejects the initiative and the counter-proposal. When the case at the Cantonal Council is discussed, it is open. In any case, the change in the law will not affect elections next year.