On 24 November 2024, Swiss voters will be called on to decide on four things, announced the Federal Council this week.
The four votes include one on road and tunnel extensions, two on rental contracts and one on healthcare funding.
Road and tunnel enlargement
The first is a government plan to extend road infrastructure in six places. Switzerland’s population continues to grow and the amount of time spent stuck in traffic has reached record levels. Three motorway extensions are planned between Geneva and Nyon, Wankdorf and Schönbühl ,and Schönbühl and Kirchberg. In addition, tunnel expansions are planned at Rosenberg, the Rhine in Basel and Fäsenstaub in the canton of Schaffhausen. In Switzerland, a referendum can be called to reject legislation passed by the government after collecting 50,000 signatures. In this case a group of politicians from the Green and Socialist Parties managed to collect enough signatures for a vote against this project.
Changes to rental contract law
The second vote concerns a government plan to change the law on rental contracts. The changes would make it easier for homeowners to move back into their own homes and require written permission from landlords to sublet. A group of people including the organisation Asloca collected more than 50,000 signatures to launch a vote against these changes. Vote organisers say that the changes reduce the power of renters in favour of landlords. Politicians from the Green and Socialist Parties and the Federal Council are against the parliamentary majority in favour of the changes.
Healthcare funding
The third vote is also a referendum against a parliamentary decision. Last year, parliament voted to make a number of changes to the way Swiss healthcare is funded. One element involved fixing the rates to which cantons can fund certain kinds of care.
Healthcare in Switzerland is partly funded by health insurance premiums and partly covered by tax payers. The tax portion comes out of cantonal taxes. The new legislation fixes the percentage that can be covered by taxpayers for certain kinds of care. In some cantons the change could lead to steep rises in premiums as the burden is transferred from tax payers to premium payers, argue those opposed to the change.
All of the votes in November are votes against laws passed by parliament and the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house. Increasingly, political parties lacking parliamentary and upper house majorities are using referenda as a tool to try to push through their preferred policies. One of the two votes on 22 September 2024 follows the same pattern. A number of changes to the pension system passed by both parliament and the Council of States will be put to a vote. Politicians, mainly from the Socialist and Green parties, are opposed to the plan, which does not fit their policies.
More on this:
Federal Council press release (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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