Swiss democracy is on another level

Voting in Switzerland is a complicated business

A few years ago I lived part of each month in Zurich, Switzerland, for nearly six years. One thing that struck me there was how complex voting was on governmental matters.

It seemed that its unique direct democracy system was so detailed that residents spent much of the time deliberating about whether to vote on such heady matters as whether it was permissible to whisper in libraries when people are quietly reading, or whether government staff should wear red ties of blue ties. While it didn’t go into that much minutiae, there were certainly discussions on such things as where to place a new bus stop.

In an effort to enlarge my knowledge of Switzerland’s governance, one day I had a look at the huge wad of voting papers my then partner, Sonja, a Swiss national, had been sent, so that she could take part in that week’s vote, which happens approximately four times a year. The whole of Switzerland was voting on governance matters and to elect officials for city or village regional levels.

Being a Brit, I was amazed at the huge pile of forms to complete. In the UK, all we have to worry about is where to put a cross against the name of one of a page of about 10 candidates hoping to be our national parliamentary representative or local council one. Six of them are usually obviously complete lunatics so it doesn’t leave much to choose from. Yet many British citizens struggle even to do that.

Here’s what Sonja’s voting package contained:

15 booklets, leaflets and pieces of paper including a 40-page explanatory leaflet, which was something like a small novel; four lists totalling 40 candidates for the district court; a four-page newsletter with relevant items; a three-page instruction manual; a voting envelope; a yellow slip for the renewal of a city official; 10 different green voting slips with a total of 83 candidates each hoping for election to be members of the municipal council; a huge yellow form where you pick from a list of 79 candidates for the district court; a white form detailing where and when you can vote; a white form for making up to nine choices for officers for the city council; a blue ballot paper for confirming that you will follow the voting rules; a grey ballot paper with three further choices for the plebiscite; a grey paper for choosing the president of the county court.

Apparently the most conscientious voters research all the candidates via newspapers, radio, tv and the internet. Four times a year.

Blimey! I think I’d almost rather live in a dictatorship and be told what to do than have to wade through that lot every three months. How can Swiss people have any time to do anything else? Perhaps Switzerland has historically been so peaceful because it’s never had the energy for revolution with all this form-filling to carry out…