Swiss people set to vote for federal elections on Oct. 22

Switzerland is set to hold federal elections on October 22 to elect the 200-seat National Council and the 46-seat Council of States.

Many of the 5.5 million eligible voters have already cast their vote as 90% of the people prefer to vote by mail rather than in person, Anadolu reports.

At the start of October, the Swiss Postal Administration delivered envelopes containing ballots to voters and voting by mail continued until October 19.


The number of voter turnout in Switzerland, a country that goes through elections every four years, is expected to remain below 50% as the turnout has been consistently below 50% for almost five decades.

The latest poll from public broadcaster SRG SSR showed that the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) will consolidate its position as the largest parliamentary group in the elections.

The SVP is expected to win 28.1% of the vote as concerns about immigration dominate the debate and the Credit Suisse fallout affects pro-business politicians.


The center-left Social Democrats is expected to follow the SVP with 18.3% and the Center Alliance at 14.3%, according to the poll. Meanwhile, the Greens are expected to fall below 10%, dropping 3.5% points from the last election and slipping to 9.7% of the total vote, according to a survey of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.

According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the number of lists and candidatures has reached record levels in 2023 with 5,909 candidates on 618 lists in the cantons.

Noting that 41% of those candidates are women, FSO said that those under the age of 30 account for almost 30% of candidates.