On 18 June 2023, Swiss voters voted on three federal initiatives on whether to tax large companies at minimum rate of 15%, adopt a package of incentives to reduce emissions and extend Covid-19 laws until mid 2024.
Voting this weekend saw all three initiatives accepted. Majorities were in favour of higher (in most cantons) company taxes (78.45%), the government’s climate protection plan (59.07%) and extending Covid-19 laws (61.94%).
The votes showed relatively small differences between French- and German-speaking voters, a linguistic divide known as the Rösti Graben (rösti is a grated potato dish associated with Switzerland’s German speakers and Graben means ditch or trench). Although, there was a high concentration of votes against the climate protection plan in central Switzerland – the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Glarus all had majorities against it as did Thurgau and Appenzell Innerrhoden in the east.
A similar concentration of “no” votes against extending the Covid-19 laws were observed in central and eastern Switzerland – the cantons of Schwytz (54.25% no), Obwalden (52.63%) and Appenzell Innerrhoden (51.46%) all had majorities against this decision. Every other canton was in favour of extending the Covid-19 laws.
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