Almost two million people in Switzerland have the right to vote in the EU
Published: Wednesday, Mar 6th 2024, 10:00
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Around 1.9 million people in Switzerland are eligible to vote in the European elections. That is more voters than in some EU member states. From June 6 to 9, a total of almost 400 million EU citizens can take part in the European elections.
This was announced last week by the Delegation of the European Union for Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. The data, which is also available to the Keystone-SDA news agency, comes from the Federal Statistical Office and takes into account both EU citizens and dual nationals of voting age.
Almost 1.5 million voters living in Switzerland come from five of the 27 EU member states: Italy (around 520,000), Germany (around 375,000), Portugal (around 245,000), France (around 235,000) and Spain (around 115,000). In total, more EU citizens are eligible to vote in Switzerland than in the EU states of Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia and Slovenia.
Voting varies from country to country
In order to participate in the elections in June, different rules and different deadlines apply to EU citizens in Switzerland depending on their country of origin. For example, Germans, French and Portuguese must register before the election by a deadline that varies from country to country, as can be seen on the European elections website.
There are also differences when it comes to voting. Germans and Spaniards can vote by post. Spaniards also have the option of casting their vote at the embassy or a consulate. Portuguese and French citizens can also do this, although the latter can also be represented by proxy.
Italian nationals living in Switzerland, on the other hand, have to make a shorter journey. They can only exercise their right to vote in the municipality in which they are registered in Italy. In Italy, the election takes place on Saturday and Sunday.
©Keystone/SDA
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