Canton of Aargau wants to stop the flood of shortlists in National Council elections
Published: Tuesday, Sep 24th 2024, 16:30
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The cantons should be able to limit the number of sub-lists per party in the National Council elections. The Aargau cantonal parliament has passed a corresponding cantonal initiative to limit the flood of sub-lists. In the last elections, 713 people ran on 52 lists for the 16 National Council seats in Aargau.
On Tuesday, the Grand Council approved the popular initiative addressed to the Federal Assembly by 83 votes to 43. The initiative is based on a proposal by the Green, FDP and SVP parliamentary groups. The cantonal government also spoke out in favor of the initiative.
The number of sub-lists has increased massively, according to the Greens, FDP and SVP. Many voters were "simply overwhelmed" by the flood of sub-lists and the lists were "a nuisance". The chances of people on the sub-lists being elected are practically zero.
An invention of the center
The center, SP and EVP spoke out against the initiative. Elections are teamwork, noted a centrist councillor. Each person contributes to the success of the party with their efforts. All parties had acted within the law, said an SP councillor. Voter turnout had increased.
In the 2019 election year, the then CVP (today: center) started with the many sub-lists. In the 2023 election year, the SP, FDP, Greens, GLP and EPP followed suit. They ran with thematic or regional sub-lists. The centrist party held the record with nine sub-lists. The FDP and GLP entered the race with five sub-lists each.
The flood of sub-lists is already an issue in Bern. The State Policy Committees of the Council of States and the National Council are examining the issue. In February, the Federal Council stated that changing the rules for National Council elections would have far-reaching consequences for the political system.
Over the past 20 years, the number of lists and candidates has more than doubled: in 2003, 262 lists were counted - last October, 618 lists. In the same period, the number of candidates rose from 2836 to 5909.
©Keystone/SDA
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