1971 Swiss federal election

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 31 October 1971.^[1] Although the Social Democratic Party received the most votes, the Free Democratic Party emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 49 of the 200 seats.^[2] They were the first federal elections in which women were allowed to vote, following a referendum earlier in the year that introduced universal suffrage for federal elections.

Results

National Council



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	456,233	22.90	46	–4
	Free Democratic Party	432,259	21.70	49	0
	Christian Democratic People's Party	407,225	20.44	44	–1
	Swiss People's Party	220,487	11.07	23	–1
	Alliance of Independents	152,086	7.63	13	–3
	Republican Movement	84,700	4.25	7	+7
	National Action	63,781	3.20	4	+3
	Swiss Party of Labour	51,341	2.58	5	0
	Liberal Democratic Union	43,710	2.19	6	0
	Evangelical People's Party	42,778	2.15	3	0
	Independent Social-Christian Party	5,946	0.30	0	–
	Autonomous Socialist Party	5,271	0.26	0	New
	Swiss Progressive Organisations	1,820	0.09	0	–
	Other parties	24,679	1.24	0	–
Total		1,992,316	100.00	200	0

Valid votes		1,992,316	98.72
Invalid/blank votes		25,761	1.28
Total votes		2,018,077	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,549,429	56.86
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Turnout		Votes	Seats won
Aargau	14	232,941	145,512	Social Democratic Party	474,648	3
				Christian Democratic People's Party	396,770	3
				Free Democratic Party	315,776	3
				Swiss People's Party	247,379	2
				Ring of Independents	187,426	2
				Republican Movement	115,305	1
				Evangelical People's Party	76,306	0
				National Action	68,260	0
				Team 67	51,975	0
				Free Eligible Voters and Non-Partisan Voters	36,972	0
				Free Voters for Education and Progress	8,243	0
				European Federalist Party	6,570	0
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	2	28,671	13,915	Free Democratic Party	15,924	1
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	2	28,671	13,915	Social Democratic Party	9,521	1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1	7,624	2,386	Christian Democratic People's Party	2,217	1
Basel-Landschaft	7	114,565	59,320	Social Democratic Party	115,853	2
				Free Democratic Party	94,370	2
				Ring of Independents	56,704	1
				Swiss People's Party	48,314	1
				Christian Democratic People's Party	54,815	1
				National Action	41,095	0
Basel-Stadt	7	149,309	69,418	Social Democratic Party	146,745	2
				Free Democratic Party	55,327	1
				Liberal Party	62,533	1
				Ring of Independents	61,133	1
				Christian Democratic People's Party	54,238	1
				National Action	38,678	1
				Party of Labour	29,246	0
				Republican Movement	23,593	0
				Swiss Progressive Organisations	8,859	0
				Free Opposition Party	2,008	0
Bern	31	601,381	347,799	Social Democratic Party	3,272,395	10
				Swiss People's Party	3,086,851	10
				Free Democratic Party	1,819,024	5
				Ring of Independents	664,295	2
				Christian Democratic People's Party	566,163	1
				Evangelical People's Party	430,124	1
				National Action	388,872	1
				Republican Movement	221,004	1
				Independent Social-Christian Party	91,632	0
				Volkstümlich	4,736	0
Fribourg	6	104,385	55,827	Christian Democratic People's Party	136,147	3
				Free Democratic Party	81,018	2
				Social Democratic Party	65,253	1
				Swiss People's Party	28,460	0
				Independent Social-Christian Party	17,435	0
Geneva	11	173,910	81,670	Party of Labour	183,332	3
				Free Democratic Party	168,724	2
				Social Democratic Party	167,854	2
				Liberal Party	123,516	2
				Independent Social-Christian Party	120,939	2
				Ring of Independents	54,563	0
				Vigilance	47,504	0
				National Action	12,696	0
Glarus	1	22,016	13,582	Social Democratic Party	7,652	1
Glarus	1	22,016	13,582	Free Democratic Party	5,667	0
Grisons	5	89,842	50,960	Christian Democratic People's Party	93,234	2
				Swiss People's Party	85,146	2
				Free Democratic Party	37,034	1
				Social Democratic Party	34,801	0
Lucerne	9	165,445	109,655	Christian Democratic People's Party	473,336	5
				Free Democratic Party	290,905	3
				Social Democratic Party	120,390	1
				Ring of Independents	84,561	0
Neuchâtel	5	96,306	46,491	Social Democratic Party	68,715	2
				Free Democratic Party	54,661	2
				Liberal Party	35,858	1
				Party of Labour	30,778	0
				Republican Movement	22,672	0
				Progressive National Party	12,080	0
Nidwalden	1	14,794	7,596	Christian Democratic People's Party	6,425	1
Obwalden	1	14,371	7,721	Christian Democratic People's Party	7,547	1
Schaffhausen	2	40,982	32,257	Social Democratic Party	24,897	1
				Free Democratic Party	20,500	1
				Ring of Independents	7,548	0
				Christian Democratic People's Party	4,984	0
				National Action	3,983	0
Schwyz	3	50,787	22,844	Christian Democratic People's Party	24,758	1
				Social Democratic Party	18,652	1
				Free Democratic Party	13,124	1
				We Want to Vote	7,800	0
Solothurn	7	128,238	82,369	Free Democratic Party	194,154	3
				Christian Democratic People's Party	156,657	2
				Social Democratic Party	148,795	2
				Ring of Independents	40,527	0
				National Action	25,844	0
St. Gallen	12	211,565	131,082	Christian Democratic People's Party	679,985	6
				Free Democratic Party	364,356	3
				Social Democratic Party	225,490	2
				Ring of Independents	108,322	1
				Republican Movement	108,035	0
				Evangelical People's Party	46,530	0
				Swiss Progressive Organisations	6,552	0
				European Federalist Party	5,227	0
Ticino	8	133,771	81,114	Free Democratic Party	242,069	4
				Christian Democratic People's Party	219,389	3
				Social Democratic Party	82,930	1
				Autonomous Socialist Party	42,116	0
				Party of Labour	17,314	0
				Swiss People's Party	15,364	0
				Republican Movement	10,984	0
Thurgau	6	96,996	60,159	Swiss People's Party	92,097	2
				Christian Democratic People's Party	82,962	1
				Social Democratic Party	73,228	1
				Free Democratic Party	59,665	1
				Republican Movement	31,120	1
				National Action	14,999	0
Uri	1	19,694	11,039	Free Democratic Party	9,712	1
Vaud	16	288,668	132,382	Free Democratic Party	537,173	5
				Social Democratic Party	515,893	4
				Party of Labour	252,539	2
				Liberal Party	256,061	2
				Swiss People's Party	159,490	1
				Christian Democratic People's Party	108,558	1
				National Action	87,146	1
				Ring of Independents	85,011	0
				Republican Movement	60,816	0
Valais	7	119,854	80,589	Christian Democratic People's Party	341,294	5
				Free Democratic Party	106,853	1
				Social Democratic Party	85,778	1
				Social Independent Movement	20,380	0
Zug	2	Elected unopposed		Christian Democratic People's Party		1
Zug	2	Elected unopposed		Free Democratic Party		1
Zürich	35	644,893	372,435	Social Democratic Party	2,688,278	8
				Free Democratic Party	2,158,558	6
				Ring of Independents	2,127,106	6
				Swiss People's Party	1,566,199	5
				Republican Movement	1,448,131	4
				Christian Democratic People's Party	1,228,888	3
				Evangelical People's Party	668,427	2
				National Action	637,912	1
				Party of Labour	205,984	0
				European Federalist Party	43,931	0
				Erwa-Bund	39,784	0
				Helvetic People's Movement Against Foreign Infiltration	32,288	0
				The Initiators	24,633	0
				Swiss People's Party	9,000	0

Source: Bundesblatt, 17 November 1971

Council of the States



Party		Seats	+/–
	Christian Democratic People's Party	17	–1
	Free Democratic Party	15	+1
	Swiss People's Party	5	–1
	Social Democratic Party	4	+2
	Liberal Democratic Union	2	–1
	Alliance of Independents	1	0
Total		44	0

Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

^ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1895 ISBN 9783832956097
^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1954

[NS-1] Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1895 ISBN 9783832956097

[2] Nohlen & Stöver, p1954

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[2]