Re: Swiss elections and referenda - New Federal Councilor(s) election 7 December

[Estrella]

Is Europe Elect's classification of SVP in Reform Europe (= Liberals) a joke ?

Might be a relic from when the SVP was a de facto agrarian party - many of those joined ALDE renew europe.

But ALDE/RE has always been a bit of a trash collector - most hilariously, one of their members is Bulgaria's DPS, which is basically AKP Abroad. They also contain Estonia's whatever-but-definitely-not-liberal populist Centre Party, Lithuanian Labor Party, or Fianna Fáil. IIRC, at one point, Slovakia's now-defunct authoritarian-nationalist HZDS was also a member.

[Estrella]

Might be a stupid question, but how do the elections work in Graubünden? Wikipedia has some maps of party strength by district, and the whole of Graubünden is grayed out on them, and captioned "anderes Wahlsystem" (different electoral system).

[Estrella]

«être Suisse allemand consiste essentiellement à ne pas être Allemand»
...
I get the feeling that the Swiss-Germans are much, much less interested in what is happening in Germany than the Romands (and presumably the Walloons) are with what is going on in France

A theory: Swiss Germans being the dominant population group in the country makes them identify with it more than other groups, and hence see Germany as much more "foreign", whereas French and Italians are like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ when it comes to relations with neighboring countries (except those subhuman frontaliers of course).

Is that possible or nah?

[Estrella]

Another survey from GFS.Zurich showing that a bare majority of just 82% of Swiss people support the introduction of gay marriage, including two out of three of UDC voters, and just 70% in support of lesbian couples being able to access fertility treatment.

Obviously with such, *cough* close numbers it makes perfect sense as to why the Conseil des États has been sitting on their arses on this subject for *checks notes* 7 (seven) years.

Kinda weird that no one managed to bring it to a referendum yet.

[Estrella]

Seeing the surprisingly intense campaign for this vote, how does financing of campaigns and political parties work in Switzerland? American-style anarchy would seem to be a characteristically Swiss solution (definitely not related to the stereotypes about Switzerland and money, not at all), but in what seems to be a very politically disengaged country, I'm not sure if that's a viable way.

[Estrella]

https://twitter.com/viktorgiacobbo/status/1333037534021099520

[Estrella]

Have there been any notable initiatives in the past that won the popular vote but lost the, uhm, electoral college? (or vice-versa, if it's mathematically possible at all)

[Estrella]

6-7 years is about normal for how it takes to get from petition starting to actual vote as far as initiatives are concerned - so they're always going to be lagging as far as that is concerned. I am looking forward to a series of pointless covid related ones being voted on in 2028-30.

I... what?