Spend Tens of Thousands of Francs on Their Election Campaign
Published: Thursday, Sep 7th 2023, 15:40
Mise à jour le : Vendredi, 13 octobre 2023, 14:12
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The Swiss national elections on October 22nd will be the first to require political parties, organisations and candidates to publicly disclose their campaign budgets over 50,000 Swiss francs and large donations over 15,000 francs to the Federal Financial Control (EKF). So far, four national parties have reported their budgets: Mitte Schweiz (2.1 million francs), SP (1.7 million francs), Grünen (1.3 million francs) and EVP (275,000 francs). In addition, around 30 cantonal parties and local sections have reported their budgets. Two national organisations, Gastrosuisse and Swissbanking, have also reported their budgets. Around 30 individual candidates have reported budgets over 50,000 francs, with FDP candidates making up the majority. Candidates from larger cantons and those from the centre-right spectrum tend to have the highest individual budgets. So far, Nationalrat Andri Silberschmidt (FDP/ZH) has the highest reported budget of 280,000 francs, without large donations. Bettina Balmer (FDP/ZH) has the highest reported budget of 220,000 francs, with 45,000 francs coming from her own pocket and 50,000 francs from the Zurich Doctors' Association. Most reported budgets are over 80,000 francs, with the average personal contribution being around 20,000 francs. Christoph Blocher (SVP) has reported 550,000 francs in support of the SVP. The Swiss Parliament has set a threshold of 50,000 francs for disclosure of campaign budgets, and those elected on October 22nd must submit a final report. The EKF will monitor compliance and report any violations to the authorities, with fines of up to 40,000 francs for those found to be in breach.nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
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