Flavia Wasserfallen Surprises in First Round of Voting
Published: Sunday, Oct 22nd 2023, 19:40
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On November 19th, the second round of elections for the Bern Canton's Council of States will take place. The two most likely candidates are SP National Councillor Flavia Wasserfallen and the current SVP Council of States member Werner Salzmann. On election day, Salzmann was in the lead for most of the day, but with the counting of the votes from the population-heavy, red-green dominated city of Bern, the tide turned in the last moment in favour of Wasserfallen, who ended up with 158,843 votes, compared to Salzmann's 157,944. Wasserfallen expressed her joy and surprise at the result, while Salzmann remained confident that he would win the election in the second round. The third place went to former government councillor Bernhard Pulver (Green) with 97,275 votes, while FDP candidate Sandra Hess surprisingly came in fourth with 93,123 votes. The other candidates will not be able to participate in the second round.
The two most likely candidates, Wasserfallen and Salzmann, are almost certain to participate in the second round. It is possible that all other candidates will withdraw to make way for the two, or that parties will form a two-ticket with one of them. On Monday, negotiations will take place between the parties to decide who will be on the two-ticket. The red-green parties are likely to form a ticket with Wasserfallen and Pulver, while the centre, GLP, FDP and business associations will negotiate to decide who will be on the ticket with Salzmann.
©Keystone/SDA
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