Further complaint against constitutional referendum in Valais
Published: Wednesday, Feb 21st 2024, 15:51
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In Valais, another complaint has been lodged in the run-up to the vote on the new cantonal constitution. The Valais electorate will decide on the bill on March 3.
Gerhard Schmid from Upper Valais has lodged a complaint with the State Council and the Grand Council "to protect the integrity of the vote". He did this as a citizen and not on behalf of a party or a committee, he said on Wednesday when asked by the news agency Keystone-SDA about a report in the "Walliser Bote".
He considers it offensive that, according to the voting brochure, blank and invalid votes are to be included in the calculation of the absolute majority. This "long-standing practice" of the State Council resulted in a distortion of the votes. De facto, the blank and invalid votes would be reinterpreted as "no" votes, according to Schmid. This procedure violates Article 34 of the Federal Constitution, which protects the free formation of will and the unadulterated casting of votes in the exercise of political rights.
The new cantonal constitution, which was drawn up by a 130-member Constitutional Council over the last four years, is causing a stir in Valais. Because opinions are divided, the Valais cantonal government decided not to recommend a vote.
However, some citizens believe that not all members of the executive have complied with this. They therefore submitted a complaint to the Grand Council at the beginning of February. The cantonal parliament is not expected to decide on this until after the vote on March 3.
The four complainants are of the opinion that the vote on the constitutional amendment will inevitably be distorted by the "interference" of the Upper Valais State Councillors Roberto Schmidt (center) and Franz Ruppen (SVP) and must be annulled.
©Keystone/SDA
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