2023 Swiss federal election

The 200 members of the National Council are elected from the 26 cantons, each of which constitutes a constituency. In all multi-member cantons open-list proportional representation is used; with apparentments for allied parties and sub-apparentments for lists within parties, where apparented lists are initially counted together for seats allocation. Seats are allocated using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system with no threshold. Voters may cross out names on party lists or write names twice, split their vote between parties (a system known as panachage), or draw up their own list on a blank ballot. The six single-member cantons use first-past-the-post voting.[4]

Seats in the National Council are apportioned to the cantons based on their respective population size (which includes children and resident foreigners who do not have the right to vote). Based on the official population count recorded at the end of 2020, Basel-Stadt lost a seat while Zürich gained one. Zürich is the canton with the most seats (36).[5]

The rules regarding who can stand as a candidate and vote in elections to the National Council are uniform across the Confederation. Only Swiss citizens aged at least 18 can stand or vote and the citizens resident abroad can register to vote in the canton in which they last resided (or their canton of citizenship, otherwise) and be able to vote no matter how long since, or whether they ever have, lived in Switzerland.

Apportionment of National Council seats by canton in 2023[6][7]

Canton	Population	Seats	+/−	Pop. by seat
Zurich	1,553,423	36	+1	43,151
Berne	1,043,132	24	±0	43,464
Lucerne	416,347	9	±0	46,261
Uri	36,819	1	±0	36,819
Schwyz	162,157	4	±0	40,539
Obwalden	38,108	1	±0	38,108
Nidwalden	43,520	1	±0	43,520
Glarus	40,851	1	±0	40,851
Zug	128,794	3	±0	42,931
Fribourg	325,496	7	±0	46,499
Solothurn	277,462	6	±0	46,244
Basel-Stadt	196,735	4	−1	49,184
Basel-Landschaft	290,969	7	±0	41,567
Schaffhausen	83,107	2	±0	41,554
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	55,309	1	±0	55,309
Appenzell Innerrhoden	16,293	1	±0	16,293
St. Gallen	514,504	12	±0	42,875
Grisons	200,096	5	±0	40,019
Aargau	694,072	16	±0	43,380
Thurgau	282,909	6	±0	47,152
Ticino	350,986	8	±0	43,873
Vaud	814,762	19	±0	42,882
Valais	348,503	8	±0	43,563
Neuchâtel	175,894	4	±0	43,974
Geneva	506,343	12	±0	42,195
Jura	73,709	2	±0	36,855
Total	8,670,300	200	±0	43,352

The 46 members of the Council of States are elected in 20 two-seat constituencies (representing the 20 'full' cantons) and six single-member constituencies (representing the six half-cantons). Two 'full' cantons with small populations — Uri and Glarus — have therefore each two seats in the Council of States but only one seat each in the much larger National Council.[8]

Elections to the Council of States are regulated by the cantons. The cantons of Jura and Neuchâtel use proportional representation, while all the others use a majoritarian system, often with two rounds of voting. In the first round voters typically have up to two votes and candidates need an overall majority to be elected; if seats remain to be filled a runoff is held using simple plurality. All cantons—except Appenzell-Innerrhoden which elects its states councilors during the landsgemeinde in April—hold the first round concurrently with the National Council election, but the dates for the runoffs vary.[9]

As each canton regulates its election to the Council of States, the rules regarding who can stand as a candidate and vote in these elections varies canton-by-canton. Jura and Neuchâtel allow certain foreign residents to vote, whilst Glarus allows 16- and 17-year-olds the vote. Swiss citizens abroad registered to vote in a canton are permitted to vote in that canton's Council of States election only if the canton's law allows it. Only Schaffhausen has compulsory voting, though limited in implementation by way of only an insignificant fine.

The chart below depicts opinion polls conducted for the 2023 Swiss federal election; trendlines are local regressions (LOESS).

Local regression of polls conducted.

Since 2021

2020