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- Art. 5 lit. f und g FADP
- Art. 6 Abs. 6 and 7 FADP
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- Art. 2 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 3 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 4 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 5 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 6 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 7 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 8 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 9 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 11 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 12 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 25 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 29 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 32 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 33 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
- Art. 34 CCC (Convention on Cybercrime)
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
CODE OF OBLIGATIONS
FEDERAL LAW ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW
LUGANO CONVENTION
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON POLITICAL RIGHTS
CIVIL CODE
FEDERAL ACT ON CARTELS AND OTHER RESTRAINTS OF COMPETITION
FEDERAL ACT ON INTERNATIONAL MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS
DEBT ENFORCEMENT AND BANKRUPTCY ACT
FEDERAL ACT ON DATA PROTECTION
SWISS CRIMINAL CODE
CYBERCRIME CONVENTION
I. Background, Systematics und Importance of the Provision
1 As indicated by its title, which is identical in all three language versions, art. 11 deals with ballot papers, ballot papers and explanations (Abstimmungsvorlage, Stimmzettel und Erläuterungen; Testi in votazione, schede e spiegazioni), with a view to (federal) popular votes, which are dealt with exclusively in Title II of the Political Rights Act, as we have already seen.
2 The provision already existed in the original version of the law, in 1976, but it was considerably more succinct, and its title slightly different. It has since been amended no less than five times. The original version contained just three paragraphs. The first was identical to the current paragraph 1, and has therefore not been modified. The second corresponds to the current para. 2, but was much briefer, being limited to a single sentence, identical to the first sentence of the current text: "The text submitted to the vote is accompanied by brief explanations from the Federal Council, which must remain objective and also set out the opinion of important minorities". The third sentence corresponds to the current para. 3, but was also shorter, stating only that "[t]he text submitted to the vote and the explanations shall be given to the electorate at least three weeks before the vote".
3 A first revision, dated March 18, 1994, modified para. 3 and added a new para. 4, which corresponds in all respects to the current para. 4 and has therefore not been amended since. Para. 3, the 1994 revision gave it a content that corresponds to the current version of its first two sentences, with one small exception. The third sentence of para. 3 was added by a subsequent revision on June 21, 2002, in force since January 1, 2003.
4 Para. 2 has been the subject of two further revisions. The first, dated June 21, 1996, in force since April 1, 1997, completed the heading of the provision and added three new sentences to the original 1976 version (N. 2 above), corresponding in all respects to sentences 2 to 4 of the current text. The second revision, dated March 23, 2007 and in force since January 1, 2008, i.e. a few months before the adoption and entry into force of art. 10a, further enriched this provision with a fifth and final sentence, which is that of the current text.
5 The result of this somewhat tortuous and complicated legislative evolution is a rather long and cumbersome provision, whose coordination with other provisions of the law, particularly with art. 10a, is not always easy to understand, and probably not very successful. This difficulty has already been addressed in the commentary on art. 10a, and will not be repeated here.
6 In terms of structure, art. 11 is made up of four paragraphs of varying length and relatively diverse content. In summary, paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 deal with voting material, essentially the texts submitted to the vote and the ballot papers, as well as when and how they are to be handed over to the citizens, while paragraph 2 governs what is referred to as the "voting process". 2 governs what we have referred to in the commentary on the preceding articles as the Federal Council's "explanations of vote", which accompany the voting material. We will come back to each of these paragraphs later, in the commentary proper (Ch. II).
7 First, as regards the importance of the provision in general, we can limit ourselves to referring, for the most part, to what has already been said in the commentary on art. 10 and 10a, namely that, given the significance of popular votes in the Swiss constitutional and political system, with its very high degree of direct democracy, the rules governing the organization of such votes, in particular the preparation and distribution of voting material, as well as the provision of information to citizens in the run-up to such votes, are of fundamental importance.
8 While we have already seen, in connection with art. 10a, the importance of provisions for informing citizens prior to voting, we can simply add here that, according to the case law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, the freedom to vote guaranteed by art. 34 Cst. implies first and foremost, with regard to the preparation of votes, and especially with regard to the texts submitted to a vote, a right to the clear and correct formulation of the questions submitted to a vote, a right to which we will return.
9 All the cantons have provisions similar to art. 11, which deal with the preparation and distribution of voting material, as well as the provision of information to the electorate by the authorities. These provisions are of such importance in guaranteeing the correct and regular exercise of political rights that the Federal Court recognizes them as cantonal constitutional law, implying a special regime with regard to its power of cognizance.
II. Commentary
A. Paragraph 1: Voting documents and ballot papers
1. Introductory and general remarks
10 According to para. 1, which dates from the original 1976 version, states that "[t]he Confederation shall make available to the cantons the texts submitted to the vote and the ballot papers". As the Federal Council emphasized in its message, at the time, the provision merely repeated and established "the practice followed until now, whereby the Confederation provides the cantons with the voting material (ballot papers, ballot papers)". Thus, although it is up to each canton to ensure, as stipulated in art. 10 para. 2, "the execution of the vote on its territory" and to adopt the necessary measures, it is up to the Confederation to supply two of the main elements of the voting material, namely the text(s) submitted to the vote, on the one hand, and the ballot papers, on the other.
11 In fact, para. 2 of art. 11 adds - and already did at the time - that "the text submitted to the vote shall be accompanied by brief explanations from the Federal Council", so that the Confederation is in fact making three things available to the cantons. What's more, according to the practice followed for several decades, the text submitted to the vote is not really "accompanied" by the explanations of vote, but is reproduced in the brochure containing them. In practice, therefore, the Confederation provides the cantons with the brochure containing both the text submitted to the vote and the Federal Council's explanations of vote, and, separately, the ballot papers.
2. Voting texts
12 The text or texts submitted to the vote are the acts of the Federal Assembly on which the people, or the people and the cantons, depending on the type of vote, are called upon to pronounce themselves, by "yes" or "no". These are :
federal decrees submitting to a vote of the people and the cantons draft constitutional amendments proposed by Parliament itself or resulting from popular initiatives presented in the form of draft bills (art. 140 al. 1 let. a Cst.),
federal decrees submitting to the vote of the people and the cantons acts approving international treaties subject to mandatory referendum, i.e. treaties concerning membership of collective security organizations or supranational communities (art. 140 al. 1 let. b Cst.)
urgent federal laws of more than one year's duration with no constitutional basis, subject to mandatory referendum by the people and the cantons (art. 140 al. 1 let. c Cst.),
federal decrees submitting to the vote of the people (alone) popular initiatives for a total revision of the Constitution, popular initiatives conceived in general terms for a partial revision of the Constitution and rejected by the Federal Assembly, or the principle of a total revision of the Constitution, in the event of disagreement between the two Councils (art. 140 al. 2 let. a to c Cst.),
federal laws, subject to optional referendum, i.e. submitted to the vote of the people (alone), when the referendum has been validly requested (art. 141 al. 1 let. a and b Cst.),
federal decrees subject to an optional referendum by virtue of the Constitution or the law, i.e. subject to a vote of the people (alone), when the referendum has been validly requested (art. 141 al. 1 let. c Cst.),
federal decrees approving international treaties subject to optional referendum, i.e. subject to popular vote (alone), where a referendum has been validly requested (art. 141 al. 1 let. d Cst.).
13 In all these cases, therefore, we are dealing with texts that already exist, decrees or laws that have been adopted by the Federal Assembly and have already been published in the Feuille Fédérale, so that it is logical for the Confederation to make them available to the cantons, rather than the latter having to redraft, copy or reprint them.
3. Ballot papers
14 Ballot papers do not exist independently of the vote, or prior to it, but are produced solely with a view to a vote, and if there is a vote. Ballot papers are in fact the official documents by means of which - and on or in which - citizens express their opinion, their vote, on the texts submitted to a vote. The ballot paper therefore includes or reproduces the questions submitted to the citizens, allowing them to answer simply, with "yes" or "no", or by marking with a cross the box corresponding to each of these two options.
15 As stipulated in art. 12 al. 1 let. a LDP, citizens are obliged to express their opinion exclusively on an official ballot paper, failing which their vote will be null and void.
16 The justification for the fact that the law gives the Confederation the competence and obligation to make these available to the cantons is therefore different from that which prevails for the texts submitted to the vote.
17 As already indicated, the freedom to vote guaranteed by art. 34 Cst. implies a right to the clear and correct formulation of the questions submitted to the vote. The wording of the question can have a decisive influence on the behavior of voters, so here too, even more than in the case of information, there is a requirement for neutrality on the part of the authority formulating the question. This right means that "the question submitted to the vote must be clear, precise, unambiguous and objective", which, according to the Federal Court, presupposes "the proper formulation of the questions submitted to the vote", which "must not be misleading, nor be drafted in such terms as to influence the citizen's decision". The question asked "should therefore be limited to expressing and succinctly describing the object submitted to the vote, without any argument for or against it appearing in the wording of the question". It must be written in a simple, easily understandable, clear and correct manner, so that citizens can decide "yes" or "no" without too much difficulty.
18 In the case of federal referenda, these requirements also imply that, even if the cantons are responsible for their practical implementation (art. 10 para. 2), and for providing citizens with voting material (art. 11 para. 3 and 4), the questions put to the vote and the ballot papers, which contain these questions, can only be formulated and presented (formally and graphically) in an identical and uniform manner throughout Switzerland. It is therefore logical that they should be produced by the Confederation and made available to the cantons.
B. Paragraph 2: the Federal Council's "explanations of vote"
1. Introductory and general remarks
19 Art. 2 of art. 11 deals with what are referred to here as "explanations of vote" (Abstimmungserläuterungen), which are also sometimes referred to as "explanatory brochures", echoing the often-used German expression "Bundesbüchlein" (or, now, Abstimmungsbroschüre), or, in cantonal law, "message" or "explanatory message" or "explanatory report", i.e. a printed document which accompanies - or contains - the texts submitted to the vote and the ballot papers, and which is intended to inform citizens of the subject of the vote.
20 As far as federal votes are concerned, it is up to the Federal Council, as is clear from the text of the provision, to draw up or at least adopt these "explanations of vote", a solution which is not self-evident insofar as the objects put to the vote are always acts of the Federal Assembly, which sometimes confine themselves to putting to the vote popular initiatives, i.e. proposals emanating from a fraction of the electorate. We might therefore ask whether it would not be more appropriate for Parliament - or one of its bodies - to draw up these "explanations of vote", as is the case in some cantons. As early as 1976, however, Art. 11 para. 2 settled the matter and entrusted this responsibility to the Federal Council, rather than to the Federal Assembly, apparently for practical reasons.
21 In practical terms, "explanations of vote" are prepared by an internal working group, headed by the Federal Council spokesman and made up of representatives from the various departments of the administration and the Federal Chancellery. The resulting document is submitted to the Federal Council - in two readings - for formal adoption.
2. 1st sentence
22 The first sentence of Art. 11 para. 2, which states that "[t]he text submitted to the vote shall be accompanied by brief explanations from the Federal Council, which must remain objective and also set out the opinion of important minorities", dates from 1976. At the time, it represented an innovation, in that until then there had been no provision explicitly authorizing and prescribing such explanations by the Government in the run-up to a vote. The Federal Council had, of course, already provided such explanations for certain votes, notably by publishing an explanatory brochure (a Bundesbüchlein) for certain votes since the 1950s, but in a rather ad hoc and unsystematic way. As the Federal Council explained in its message, it was following parliamentary interventions and opinions "expressed in the press" that it decided to include this provision in its draft, the idea being to make the publication of these "explanations of vote" an obligation. Parliament adopted the Federal Council's proposal virtually unchanged, subject to minor terminological changes.
23 The Federal Council justified this innovation as follows:
"It is above all the nature of the texts submitted to the people, which are often difficult to understand because of the increasingly complicated subjects they deal with, that justifies the addition of a commentary. It's difficult for the general public to understand the technical and economic issues involved. That's why we believe it's essential to attach an explanatory statement to the text submitted to the vote, commenting on its content as briefly and simply as possible, in everyday terms. This kind of information should enable the electorate to better grasp the scope of the texts on which it must vote."
24 It was already clear from this original text that "explanations of vote" should remain brief, i.e. concentrate on the essentials, so that they can be effectively brought to the attention of citizens, and that they "must remain objective"; we thus already find here the principle of objectivity that was later taken up, as we have seen, in the new art. 10a, added in 2007.
25 Still according to this original text, "explanations of vote" must also "set out the opinions of significant minorities", by which was meant, according to the Federal Council's message at the time, "opinions expressed by significant minorities represented in Parliament", on the understanding that "it would be difficult to take into consideration the opinions of other political minorities". In this sense, art. 11 para. 2 already contained, from the outset, the rule that the Chambers have reintroduced, albeit in a more explicit formulation, through para. 3 of the new Art. 10a adopted in the revision of October 5, 2007, in force since 2009, which states that the Federal Council "shall set out the main opinions expressed during the parliamentary procedure". With regard to these "opinions expressed by important minorities represented in Parliament", we can therefore refer to what has already been said in the commentary on art. 10a para. 3.
26 In the meantime, however, art. 11 para. 2 had already been amended, and supplemented by three new sentences, in 1996, two of which were specifically intended to extend the consideration of minority opinions other than those expressed within Parliament, namely those of initiative committees and referendum committees, as will be seen below.
3. 2nd to 4th sentences
27 As mentioned above, sentences 2 to 4 of para. 2 were in fact introduced by a wide-ranging revision of the Political Rights Act, which was adopted on June 21, 1996 and came into force on April 1, 1997. At that time, the Chambers of Parliament adopted the three new sentences proposed by the Federal Council, without making any substantive changes, but modifying their order.
28 The first of these three new sentences, sentence 2 of para. 2, stipulates that "[i]t must contain the exact wording of the question appearing on the ballot paper". In reality, however, the wording of this sentence is unfortunate, not to say unfortunate, insofar as the pronoun "it" grammatically refers to the subject of the first sentence of para. 2, i.e. "the text submitted to the vote". The German version explicitly confirms this understanding, and is even worse, since it explicitly uses the noun "die Abstimmungsvorlage" (the text submitted to the vote) as the subject of the second sentence. However, it is not the "voting text" (die Abstimmungsvorlage) that "must contain the exact wording of the question on the ballot paper", contrary to what the text of the provision seems to say, in both French and German, but rather the Federal Council's "explanations of vote".
29 This, at least, was the intention of the legislator, as is clear not only from the Federal Council's message, but also from its draft. The German and French versions of the second sentence of para. 2 are incorrectly worded, and only the Italian version correctly conveys the meaning of the provision, namely that it is the Federal Council's "explanations of vote" - and not the "text submitted to the vote" - that must contain the exact wording of the question.
30 This is also the practice. Indeed, it is always the Federal Council's "explanations of vote" themselves, and not the text put to the vote - which is also contained in the explanations of vote - that contain the exact wording of the question on the ballot paper. Nor is it clear that the text submitted to the vote can contain the wording of the question asked.
31 As for the other two sentences added in 1996, sentences 3 and 4 of para. 2, concern the question of whether the Federal Council's "explanations of vote" should take into account the arguments of minorities other than "the important minorities represented in Parliament". In its message, the Federal Council explained the introduction of these two new sentences as follows:
"The proposed text is intended to respond to a wish widely expressed during the consultation procedure on the first draft of the revision, dating from 1988, and to codify the practice well established since 1984, according to which the initiative committee or referendum committee may set out the reasons for their request in the Federal Council's own explanations on a maximum of one A4 page, the Federal Council reserving the right to modify exceptionally a text that is prejudicial to honor, contrary to the truth or too long, which it has done several times since."
In fact, until the late 1970s, the Federal Council itself drafted the opinions of referendum and initiative committees. Then, from 1984 onwards, the practice was to provide them with a page of "explanations of vote", with the Government in principle reproducing their arguments unchanged, with a few exceptions. The two new sentences introduced in 1996 continue this practice, codifying it and extending the idea expressed at the end of the first sentence of para. 2, which dates back to 1976, by specifying that, on the one hand, "[i]n the case of a popular initiative or referendum, the committee shall submit its arguments to the Federal Council, which shall include them in its explanations" (3rd sentence) and, on the other, that the "Federal Council may amend or refuse to include comments that are dishonourable, manifestly untrue or too long" (4th sentence).
32 The provision thus imposes on the Federal Council, in the case of an initiative or referendum, the obligation in principle to take up the arguments of the initiative or referendum committee. In practice, the initiative or referendum committee is asked to provide its own text, which the authorities then take over; if these texts do not meet the requirements of the fourth sentence, the authors are given a deadline to submit a corrected version. In the absence of a suitable text within this period, or if the committees waive their right to do so, it is up to the authority to draw up the committees' opinion, since the law requires it to report on these opinions, which are also the opinions of important minorities, of which the committees are a part.
33 According to some authors, any dispute as to whether the committees' opinions were taken into account, either because they were not invited to provide their arguments when they should have been, or because the authority corrected or drafted their arguments, is not separately subject to appeal, as the corresponding grievances must be raised in the context of contesting "explanations of vote". It should be remembered, however, that the Federal Council's "explanations of vote" are in principle not subject to appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, under art. 189 para. 4 of the Swiss Constitution, so that - according to the most recent case law - they can only be challenged in exceptional cases (a posteriori control, or retrospective legal protection) and within very narrow limits.
4. 5th sentence
34 The fifth and final sentence of art. 11 para. 2 was introduced some ten years later than the previous two, by a partial revision of the Political Rights Act of March 23, 2007, which came into force on January 1, 2008 and was proposed by the Federal Council in the context of the introduction of the general initiative, although this revision had nothing to do with this institution. This last sentence adds to the two preceding ones, with regard to the opinions of referendum and initiative committees, that the Federal Council "will only take up references to electronic sources if their authors declare in writing that these sources do not contain illicit indications or direct the Internet user to electronic publications with illicit content".
35 As indicated in the Government's message, the aim of this clarification was "to grant a certain protection to official information appearing in the Federal Council's explanations brochure, in the face of third-party information that could be called up on the Internet from links mentioned in this same brochure", or even "to protect official information appearing in the Federal Council's explanations brochure by refusing to include electronic links that would refer to publications on the Internet whose content would be illicit".
36 The message clarified this idea as follows:
"For some time now, the Federal Council has been including the e-mail addresses of federal authorities on the last page of the Explanations brochure, and sometimes also those of other federal administration pages that can be consulted on the Internet. It has even mentioned the e-mail addresses of initiative and referendum committees. Mentioning links or other references to electronic sources (e.g. an SMS address from which a voter can have information sent to his or her cell phone) can nevertheless be problematic, as electronic information can easily be modified and in some cases take on an illicit character. We know that Internet pages can be constantly updated, and that a link can suddenly lead to pages whose content has been modified after the fact. By agreeing to include references to electronic sources in the Federal Council's Explanations, the Federal Chancellery would be giving a blank cheque to the authors of these sources. However, the principle of transparency, as well as the principle of proportionality, require that the information the voter receives, and will continue to receive, is correct, and that the source of the information is mentioned by name. For this reason, the page of the Federal Council's Explanatory Memorandum on which the committees (initiative or referendum) present their arguments will have to state that they take full responsibility for the page. In addition, those responsible will have to declare in writing to the Federal Chancellery that the electronic sources mentioned neither contain any illegal information nor direct Internet users to publications with illegal content. These two measures will make it possible to prevent manipulations such as the subsequent detour of a link to another link with, for example, a racist content, and to prevent Internet users who subsequently (once the vote is over) click on an electronic link mentioned in the Federal Council's Explanations published on the Internet from coming across allegations of a racist nature, or from being led by successive references to come across allegations of this type."
C. Paragraph 3: time of delivery of voting material
37 As already mentioned, the original 1976 version of the law already included a paragraph 3, albeit considerably shorter, which simply stated that "[t]he text submitted to the vote and the explanations shall be given to the electors at least three weeks before the vote". The first two sentences of this text were given their present form by the partial revision of the Political Rights Act of March 18, 1994, which came into force on November 15, 1994. However, the third and last sentence was subsequently introduced with the revision of June 21, 2002, in force since January 1, 2003, and the text of the second sentence underwent a further minor change with the entry into force on August 1, 2008 of the Federal Act on the Formal Updating of Federal Law of March 20, 2008.
38 The Federal Council's message states that the idea in the original version of the law was to shorten the deadline, which until then had been four weeks before the date of the vote, for providing citizens with the text submitted to the vote, as well as the accompanying explanations. The change to a deadline of at least three weeks was intended to save valuable time in preparing election materials.
39 In 1994, however, the Chambers of Parliament decided - the idea did not come from the Federal Council, whose message was silent on the subject - to amend this provision to stipulate, as it stands today, that citizens "shall receive, at the earliest four weeks before the day of the vote, but at the latest three weeks before that date, the documents which, under cantonal law, enable them to cast their vote validly (ballot paper, legitimation card, electoral envelope, control stamp, etc.)", on the understanding that "the elector's vote shall be validly cast at the earliest four weeks before the day of the vote, but at the latest three weeks before that date". )", it being understood that "the text submitted to the vote and the explanations may however be given to them earlier". This new wording, with a double deadline for delivery of the voting material, and the possibility of providing for earlier delivery of the text submitted to the vote and the "explanations of vote", was intended to take account of the equal status of postal voting and personal voting at the ballot box, while leaving the cantons some leeway in the organization of the dispatch of the voting material and its various components.
40 With regard to the question of the deadline by which citizens must receive their voting material, it should be noted that art. 2b ODP, introduced by an amendment of June 14, 2002, contains a special rule for citizens abroad: namely, that the cantons must ensure "that the authorities competent under cantonal law are able to send voting material to Swiss citizens abroad and, at their express request, to other voters abroad no earlier than one week before the date of the official dispatch of the said material".
41 As for the third and last sentence of para. 3, introduced by the 2002 revision, according to which "the Federal Chancellery shall publish, in electronic form and no later than six weeks before the day of the vote, the texts submitted to the vote and the accompanying explanations", was intended to enable citizens to be informed in advance and to make the system "more user-friendly", as the Federal Council's message stated:
"Opinions expressed in various letters to the Federal Chancellery and many complaints made in appeals show that many voters would like to receive voting material earlier than at present. Similar requests concerning the preparation of pre-voting campaigns are made by political parties and other interest groups: their representatives should, they say, be able to discuss the projects in full knowledge of the facts before giving voting instructions. The same applies to the many private associations which organize series of conferences, and which can only issue their slogans once they are familiar with the questions posed. All these reasons argue in favor of a more user-friendly system. In order not to add unduly to the cost of the pre-vote campaign, and to avoid problems for the cantons in the event of simultaneous elections, the Federal Council will refrain from distributing the voting documents earlier, in view of the strong opposition expressed during the consultation. On the other hand, the Federal Chancellery will satisfy the electorate's need for information earlier than is currently the case, by making the texts on which the people are to vote and the accompanying explanations available on the Internet no later than six weeks before the day of the vote."
42 Para. 3 settles two issues. The first is the deadline by which citizens must receive the voting material, which is between four weeks, "at the earliest", and three weeks, "at the latest", before the date of the vote, On the other hand, since January 1, 2003, the Federal Chancellery has been obliged to publish these two documents (voting text and explanations of vote) in electronic form no later than six weeks before the day of the vote.
43 Para. 3 deals secondarily with the question of voting material. With the exception of ballot papers and explanations of vote, which are governed by federal law and supplied to the cantons by the Confederation in accordance with art. 11 para. 1 and para. 2, first sentence, the rest of the voting material is governed by cantonal law. Voting materials vary from canton to canton, but generally include, in addition to the above-mentioned items, a certificate or voting card, which makes it possible to determine the identity of the person voting and to ensure that he or she is entitled to take part in the vote, an envelope in which to place the ballot paper(s), a return envelope, a control stamp, etc...
D. Paragraph 4: the right to a personal copy of voting material
44 Par. 4 of Art. 11 was introduced by the partial revision of the Political Rights Act of March 18, 1994, which came into force on November 15, 1994, on the proposal of the Federal Council. The wording of the provision was formally corrected in a subsequent revision in 2006.
45 As the Federal Council explained in its message, "the dispatch to every voter of the texts submitted to the vote is an achievement of the LDP, dating from 1976". However, particularly with the advent of equality between men and women in the field of political rights, there has been some pressure, particularly in the cantons, to limit the number of copies of the ballot papers and explanations of vote to one per household, if only for reasons of cost. The Federal Council, followed by the Chambers of Parliament, thus gave in, but only in part, as the principle remains that each holder of political rights must receive one copy.
46 Para. 4 thus adopted provides, however, that the cantons "may, by law, empower the communes to send only one copy of the text submitted to the vote and of the explanations per household, unless a member of that household who is a qualified voter requests to receive one personally". As is clear from the text, this provision allows an exception to the principle of sending a personal copy only for ballot papers and the accompanying "explanations of vote". This does not, of course, apply to other voting material, such as ballot papers, certificates, etc., which are always sent - and must be sent - to each individual holder of political rights.
47 Most cantons seem to have retained the principle of one mailing to each citizen, with only a few providing for a single mailing per household. In all cases, however, federal law imposes a double limit on this exception. On the one hand, it requires that this exception, if provided for under cantonal law, be set out in a law, by which is meant a law in the formal sense. On the other hand, it guarantees that a person with political rights must be able to request a personal copy of the text submitted to a vote, as well as "explanations of vote".
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