Closely disputed Swiss referendum: February 8

[Hash]

Swiss voters will vote tomorrow on extending the freedom of movement for workers within the European Union to Bulgaria and Romania.

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I've seen very few polls (maybe because I didn't look hard enough), but it seems to be close with a small advantage for the YES.

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The SVP/UDC supports the NO, and for that reason, any sane person should support the YES . The other 3 main parties support the YES.

[Tender Branson]

Exit poll:

59% Yes
41% No

Votes counted so far:

1.004.377 (58.1 %) - Yes
723.919 (41.9 %) - No

http://tagesschau.sf.tv/hintergrund/abstimmungen/abstimmung_vom_8_februar_2009

[Hash]

Great news!

[Franzl]

that's good, yeah.

[Hash]

that's good, yeah.

The fact that the SVP/UDC was showed the finger by a larger margin than expected is especially great!

[Hash]

Swiss Statistics site is made of win. They have final preliminary results up now.

[The Mikado]

Surprising, at least to me.  Doesn't fit in with my image of Switzerland...maybe I need a new image.

[Verily]

Well, there was clearly a linguistic divide. The French-speakers loved it, the Italian-speakers hated it, and the German-speakers were divided. But there are a lot more French-speakers than Italian-speakers.

There has appeared to be an increasingly strong backlash against the SVP in Switzerland of late. Hopefully that continues. I assume the BDP campaigned for "No"?

[Tender Branson]

Did the recent racism against Roma's in Italy play a significant role for the No-vote in Tessin ?

[Verily]

For those curious about the linguistic divide, language in Switzerland:

[Hash]

Did the recent racism against Roma's in Italy play a significant role for the No-vote in Tessin ?

Maybe, but Ticino has always been a conservative and isolationist canton.

[Dan the Roman]

The SVP won 29% of the vote in the last election, but 42% here. It dosen't matter that they lost. Their position won 13% more of the vote than they did, while every other party opposed it. Those voters make the SVP the only party with room to grow.

I think people are missing the game here. The goal for the SVP is not to win, but polarize Switzerland in a SVP v. Everyone else manner, and as long as the number of people who support their position exceeds their previous vote totals it is working

[Hash]

The SVP won 29% of the vote in the last election, but 42% here. It dosen't matter that they lost. Their position won 13% more of the vote than they did, while every other party opposed it. Those voters make the SVP the only party with room to grow.

I think people are missing the game here. The goal for the SVP is not to win, but polarize Switzerland in a SVP v. Everyone else manner, and as long as the number of people who support their position exceeds their previous vote totals it is working

I'm certain that the 41% of NO voters are not all SVP voters. A majority probably are, but I'm certain that the NO demographic is not 100% SVP.

[Verily]

Anyway, the support for this referendum doesn't follow the usual pattern of SVP support very well. Vaud, over 70% in favor, gave the SVP a plurality in the 2007 election, while Ticino, 60% against, voted for the FDP in 2007. Glarus, voting against, voted for the SP in a two-way race with the SVP in 2007.

(Admittedly, some of this is due to vote-splitting; the SVP won Vaud with only 22% of the vote.)

http://www.sf.tv/wahlen07/nr/index.php?election=nr

Ultimately, yes, some of this is about polarizing Switzerland. But the CVP and FDP are such useless political "parties" that they deserve to collapse anyway.

[Hash]

Anyway, the support for this referendum doesn't follow the usual pattern of SVP support very well. Vaud, over 70% in favor, gave the SVP a plurality in the 2007 election, while Ticino, 60% against, voted for the FDP in 2007. Glarus, voting against, voted for the SP in a two-way race with the SVP in 2007.

(Admittedly, some of this is due to vote-splitting; the SVP won Vaud with only 22% of the vote.)

http://www.sf.tv/wahlen07/nr/index.php?election=nr

Ultimately, yes, some of this is about polarizing Switzerland. But the CVP and FDP are such useless political "parties" that they deserve to collapse anyway.

Schwyz, on the other hand though, is a stronghold of the SVP and is one of the most conservative cantons out there (they were the only one to vote YES to the SVP's xenophobic naturalization referendum).

[Dan the Roman]

The SVP won 29% of the vote in the last election, but 42% here. It dosen't matter that they lost. Their position won 13% more of the vote than they did, while every other party opposed it. Those voters make the SVP the only party with room to grow.

I think people are missing the game here. The goal for the SVP is not to win, but polarize Switzerland in a SVP v. Everyone else manner, and as long as the number of people who support their position exceeds their previous vote totals it is working

I'm certain that the 41% of NO voters are not all SVP voters. A majority probably are, but I'm certain that the NO demographic is not 100% SVP.

But they are potential SVP voters. It tells them where they have room to grow.

[GMantis]

The French love for the Romanians is proven once again.