Swiss Abroad views: casting votes from afar

Illustration: Helen James / swissinfo.ch

Series Swiss Abroad views, Episode 6:

Each Swiss canton has its own electoral laws, making it complicated for the Swiss Abroad to participate in elections in their home country. For many, deciding how to vote often hinges on heuristics, as well as party ties.  

Switzerland is holding federal elections on October 22. There are 200 seats up for grabs in the House of Representatives and other 46 in the Senate. The vote will unfold in line with the rules of each of the country’s 26 cantons. 

The Swiss Abroad can also take part. They are entitled to vote in the canton where they have registered as overseas resident. They can cast their ballots on federal initiatives and lend support to candidates for the House of Representatives without having to travel to Switzerland. They don’t even need to show up at a Swiss embassy or consulate on election day – a condition that many other countries set for their citizens to vote from abroad.  

To give Swiss Abroad voters enough time to study their options and send back their ballots, cantons send out the paperwork a full six seeks before election day. That’s at least the case when voting for the House of Representatives and, where possible, for the first round of voting for the Senate. Cantons Aargau, Bern, Basel Country, Basel City, Fribourg, Geneva, Graubünden, Jura, Neuchâtel, Solothurn, Schwyz, Ticino and Zurich facilitate the latter. 

Different cantons, different starting points  

From a legal and logistical standpoint, the Swiss Abroad face few hurdles in exercising their right to vote. However, exercising that right also means Swiss citizens living overseas must be up to speed on the parties and candidates in the cantons where they are registered.  

Keeping tabs on Swiss domestic politics is easier said than done when living a different country. How are Swiss Abroad supposed to decide who to vote for when all they have at hand is the (sometimes very comprehensive) voter information packages of a canton in distant Switzerland? 

All cantons require political parties to submit their lists and candidates in the run up to elections. This year’s ballots are widely expected to include a record number of candidates and lists. Some 5,000 candidates spread over 500 lists will vie for the 200 seats in the House of Representatives this autumn. Even for domestic Swiss voters, the sheer numbers mean wading through a lot of information. Depending on the breadth of the field of candidates and the intensity of the party competition for cantonal seats, it can be next to impossible to sift through all the party programmes and stated political goals of every candidate. 

The starting line for voters differs across cantons. In the smaller cantons of central and eastern Switzerland, only one or two seats are up for grabs in the House of Representatives. The larger cantons have more. When it comes to Senate elections, the Swiss Abroad have the right to vote in just half of the Swiss cantons. 

For example, the small contingent of 500 Swiss Abroad registered in canton Uri can only vote for one candidate for the House of Representatives. In contrast, the 30,000 Swiss Abroad registered in canton Zurich have the luxury this year of choosing between 36 candidates for the House of Representatives and two for the Senate. 

The more candidates and the more party lists there are to choose from, the harder it is to scrutinise all the party platforms and individual candidate intentions. 

Do the Swiss Abroad vote differently? 

In terms of voting patterns, the Swiss Abroad are a relative incognita. Studies concerning their voting behaviour are scarce. Nevertheless, there seem to be differences in how the voting decision is made from abroad. 

A recent study investigated behavioural differences between voters in Switzerland and those abroad. It found that long-standing and established party affiliation is somewhat less important for the Swiss Abroad than for voters living in Switzerland. That is why other factors play a major role in their electoral decision-making process. 

When deciding how to cast their ballot, many voters take mental shortcuts, also known as heuristics. Instead of systematically studying all the election materials and party programmes, the person relies on specific indicators to make their decision. The heuristic approach significantly reduces the time and effort a person spends acquiring relevant information to decide.  

Heuristics allows people to make decisions effortlessly and with little background knowledge. It simplifies accessing, processing, and evaluating information. In a political context, ideologies play a role, as does trust in parties and candidates.  For example, voters might make their decision based on how competent and convincing individuals linked to a specific party come across, or whether the party seems to have a solid programme overall.  

Such shortcuts can play out to the benefit of a party or candidate. As such, a voter might lend support to a party simply because one of its politicians is particularly persuasive, even if that politician isn’t running in the canton where a person can vote. Similarly, a voter might support a specific candidate simply based on that person’s party affiliation rather than his or her individual merits, 

Heuristics are very important, especially for voters living abroad. Sometimes the Swiss Abroad cast votes in cantons where they no longer have roots. Political parties could capitalise on this and tailor their campaigns to the Swiss Abroad. But – just like researchers – Swiss political parties are only now waking up to the weight of the Swiss Abroad as a voter segment with its own tendencies. 

Edited by Mark Livingston

Series Swiss Abroad views

• Episode 1: 1. Swiss Abroad views: what voting records show
• Episode 2: 2. How the Swiss Green Party became a force to be reckoned with
• Episode 3: 3. Why women made historic gains in the 2019 Swiss elections
• Episode 4: 4. Who are the Swiss Abroad?
• Episode 5: 5. Swiss Abroad views: the fight to exercise political rights
• Episode 6: 6. Swiss Abroad views: casting votes from afar
• Episode 7: 7. A 27th canton? How the voices of Swiss Abroad can be heard
• Episode 8: 8. How do you get the Swiss Abroad to the polls when there are none nearby?
• Episode 9: 9. ‘Vote where you live’: what this would mean for the Swiss Abroad