Swiss referendums, 2014

Twelve referendums were held in Switzerland during 2014.

February referendums

Three referendums were held on 9 February on abortion, immigration and the rail network. The abortion referendum proposed that abortions would no longer be funded through health insurance, but should be paid for privately by the mother.^[1]

The anti-immigration proposal was supported by the Swiss People's Party,^[2] and opposes the free movement of workers between the EU and Switzerland, which was introduced following a 2000 referendum.^[3]

The rail network proposal combined a number of existing federal and cantonal funds into a single permanent rail infrastructure fund, and defined a programme of upgrade projects of about 42 billion francs over 40 years, with a mechanism for the federal council to present regular updates to the programme. The initial programme includes a number of speed increases to intercity rail routes and S-Bahn expansion around Bern, Basel, and Geneva.^[4]

Results

The abortion referendum, which would have dropped abortion coverage from public health insurance, failed by a large margin, with about 70% of participating voters rejecting the proposal.^[5]

The immigration restriction proposal passed by a narrow margin, with 50.3% of participating voters supporting the measure; the proposal was also approved by the required majority of cantons.^[6] The immigration measure requires the Swiss government to either renegotiate the Swiss-EU agreement of free movement of people within three years, or to revoke the agreement. The proposal mandates re-introduction of strict quotas for various immigration categories, and imposes limits on the ability of foreigners to bring in their family members to live in Switzerland, to access Swiss social security benefits, and to request asylum.^[7] Opinion polls ahead of the vote showed the lead for the opponents of the immigration measure, but that lead began to close as the day of the referendum approached.^[7]

The referendum on public rail passed with 62% of votes in favour.

Question	For		Against		Invalid/ blank	Total votes	Registered voters	Turnout	Cantons for		Cantons against		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%					Full	Half	Full	Half
Abortion initiative	873,060	30.2	2,019,549	69.8	47,558	2,940,167	5,211,426	56.42	0	1	20	5	Rejected
"Against mass immigration"	1,463,854	50.3	1,444,552	49.7	39,750	2,948,156		56.57	12	5	8	1	Accepted
Financing and development of railway infrastructure	1,776,878	62.0	1,088,176	38.0	65,723	2,930,777		56.24	19	6	1	0	Accepted
Source: Government of Switzerland, Government of Switzerland, Government of Switzerland

Aftermath

Due to the passing of the initiative to limit immigration, Switzerland has effectively rejected granting Croatia free movement of persons. As retaliation, the EU has excluded Switzerland from the Erasmus Programme and Horizon 2020, the largest educational and research European program ever.

May referendums

Four referendums were held in Switzerland on 18 May 2014. An initiative on minimum wage proposed that the government should promote the adoption of minimum wages in collective agreements, and set a national minimum wage of 22 francs an hour,^[8] which would have been the highest minimum wage in the world.^[9] The other referendums included changes to primary health care, a lifetime ban on convicted pedophiles working with children, and the procurement of the JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft.^[10]

Results

Question	For		Against		Invalid/ blank	Total votes	Registered voters	Turnout	Cantons for		Cantons against		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%					Full	Half	Full	Half
JAS 39 Gripen procurement	1,345,726	46.59	1,542,761	53.41	52,649	2,941,136	5,221,519	56.33					Rejected
Minimum wage	687,571	23.73	2,210,192	76.27	45,152	2,942,915		56.36	0	0	20	6	Rejected
Primary health care	2,480,870	88.07	336,196	11.93	98,927	2,915,993		55.85	20	6	0	0	Accepted
Restrictions on paedophiles	1,819,822	63.53	1,044,704	36.47	68,733	2,933,259		56.18	20	6	0	0	Accepted
Source: Government of Switzerland

September referendums

Two referendums were held on 28 September, with voters asked whether they supported the creation of a unified health insurance fund and the "End to VAT discrimination in the hospitality industry" popular initiative.^[11] The health insurance proposal was supported by the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party, together with several user and consumer organisations.^[11] The VAT initiative was launched by GastroSuisse, and sought to reduce the level of VAT paid in restaurants from the standard 8% to 2.5%, the same level paid at food stands. However, the Federal Council and the Federal Assembly both opposed the proposal, claiming it would reduce tax take by around CHF 750 million.^[11]

Both proposals were rejected by voters.

Results

Question	For		Against		Invalid/ blank	Total votes	Registered voters	Turnout	Cantons for		Cantons against		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%					Full	Half	Full	Half
Unified health insurance fund	933,012	38.2	1,512,036	61.8	27,247	2,472,295	5,240,533	47.2	4	0	16	6	Rejected
Hospitality industry VAT initiative	684,563	28.5	1,718,827	71.5	57,419	2,460,809		47.0	0	0	20	6	Rejected
Source: Government of Switzerland, Government of Switzerland

November referendums

A further three referendums were held on 30 November on the country's gold reserves, abolishing the flat tax and limiting immigration.^[12] All three were rejected by voters.

The gold reserves proposal would have required the Swiss National Bank to have gold reserves of at least 20% of the value of the assets of the Swiss National Bank, and see all Swiss gold currently held in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York returned to Switzerland.^[13] The popular initiative was started by Swiss People's Party MP Luzi Stamm and two other MPs, with the 100,000 signatures required for a referendum obtained by early 2013.^[14] The proposal was opposed by the Swiss National Bank and the Swiss government, as it would limit the SNB's ability to print money.^[14]

The flat tax abolition proposal called for residents and non-working foreigners to be taxed based only on their income and their assets, ^[12] whilst the immigration cap proposal put forward by Ecopop called for preserving natural resources by limiting immigration to Switzerland to 0.2% of the population per year.^[12]

Results

Question	For		Against		Invalid/ blank	Total votes	Registered voters	Turnout	Cantons for		Cantons against		Result
	Votes	%	Votes	%					Full	Half	Full	Half
Gold reserves	580,528	22.7	1,974,137	77.3	59,235	2,613,900	5,247,489	49.8	0	0	20	6	Rejected
Immigration cap	671,099	25.9	1,920,454	74.1	31,147	2,622,700		50.0	0	0	20	6	Rejected
Flat tax abolition	1,053,125	40.8	1,528,114	59.2	37,529	2,618,768		49.9	1	0	19	6	Rejected
Source: Government of Switzerland

References

1. Volksinitiative "Abtreibungsfinanzierung ist Privatsache" [Popular initiative ‘Abortion financing is private’], CH: CH.
2. Switzerland to hold February 2014 referendum on immigration quotas, Work Permit, 28 November 2013.
3. Swiss immigration vote very close, early projections say BBC News, 9 February 2014.
4. Swiss voters back long-term rail funding plan, Railway Gazette, 11 Feb 2014
5. Abortions to remain covered by health insurance, Swissinfo.ch, February 9, 2014. Accessed February 9, 2014
6. Swiss agree to curb immigration and rethink EU deal, Swissinfo.ch, February 9, 2014. Accessed February 9, 2014
7. Swiss voters back limit on immigration, Washington Post, February 9, 2014. Accessed February 9, 2014
8. "13.014 Pour la protection de salaires équitables (Initiative sur les salaires minimums). Initiative populaire". Parlament.ch. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
9. Switzerland rejects world's highest minimum wage BBC News, 18 May 2014
10. Referendums of May, 2014 Swiss Federal Chancellery Retrieved March 6, 2014 (German)
11. Preview of ballot proposals Swiss Review
12. Referendums of 30 November 2014 Swiss Federal Chancellery. Retrieved October 13, 2014 (German)
13. Burning Issue IFA Magazine, 26 September 2014
14. Swiss Gold Referendum on November 30 Gold Switzerland, 22 August 2014