Vote results are in!

The country’s 5.4 million voters, including registered expatriate Swiss citizens, have had the final say on:

1. A proposal to scrap an immigration accord with the European Union: ROUNDLY REJECTED
2. A multi-billion financial package to purchase new fighter jets for the Swiss air force: NARROWLY ACCEPTED
3. Introduction of a two-week paternity leave: ACCEPTED
4. Proposal to grant tax breaks for families with children: REJECTED
5. A proposed reform of the country’s hunting law (at the centre of the debate is the growing wolf population in Swiss mountain regions): REJECTED

See the full results and the full details on the implications of the proposals on the SwissInfo.ch website: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/vote-results--september-27--2020/46031964

What is this EU framework deal exactly? Read the lowdown on the Swissinfo.ch website 

How do the Swiss Abroad feel about the vote? Very much let down by vote failures. 

Two of the five initiative proposals in Sunday’s vote went right down to the wire. Many Swiss people living abroad could not cast their vote because they did not get their documents or had trouble returning them. How would they have voted had they been given the chance? Would it have impacted the ballot results? 

The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) said in a press release that it had received numerous complaints from Swiss nationals living in the European Union who did not get documents two weeks before the polls. It repeated demands for secure electronic voting systems, which it says would finally allow the 180,000 Swiss citizens abroad to fully take part in Swiss referendums and elections.

A survey estimates that up to 30,000 of the Swiss Abroad did not receive their voting documents or received them too late. But missing documents is not the only obstacle.

swissinfo.ch has received numerous reports of voting forms arriving on time, but that it was impossible or highly expensive to return them because of chaos in the international postal system.

Read the full analysis and commentary on the swissinfo.ch website: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-abroad-feel-let-down-by-vote-failures/46063372