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Over 30 mountain communities voted on Alpine solar systems in the last few weeks. The result will be different depending on whether people vote anonymously or not.
In Laax, Adelboden and Grengiols in Valais, a large majority is in favor of an Alpine solar system. At the respective community meetings, approval was recently well over 70 percent.
There is an explanation for these clear results: “Primarily people who take part in the meeting are people who also have the majority opinion.” That’s what Michael Strebel says. He is a political scientist at the University of Bern and researches municipal votes.
Social pressure plays a part
In addition, there is a certain social pressure at community meetings: “Those who have a different opinion than the majority often do not dare to express them at the meeting. Because voting is open, there is a kind of social pressure to behave in a certain way.
Legend:
Especially when important people from the community or even the employer are in favor of a certain business, it takes courage to expose yourself with a critical vote or by raising your hand.
Keystone/Anthony Anex (June 8, 2018)
That’s why many critical voices are likely to stay away from a community meeting as a matter of principle: “People who have a different opinion don’t even attend the meeting. Maybe because they also know that they will be in the minority. Because in a small community you can often find out where the majority of the population stands by talking on the street.”
Voting secrecy ensures different results
The results of anonymous voting are completely different. The energy company Axpo wanted to build two large alpine solar systems in Ilanz in the canton of Graubünden. The project was clearly rejected at the ballot box.
The situation was similar in Saanen in the Bernese Oberland: there, too, voters pulled the plug on a large solar system in an anonymous vote.
In principle, “free will” is better expressed in such votes, says Michael Strebel from the University of Bern: “Anonymous votes are the standard in modern democracies. There is voting secrecy. This is the right of citizens not to have to say how they express themselves.” This way you can make your decision without being influenced.
Are the decisions of a community meeting worth less?
Nevertheless, community meetings are no less legitimate or democratic than ballot box votes, says Strebel. What speaks in favor of the community meeting is that the voters may have a better idea about a transaction, explains Michael Strebel.
“People are perhaps a little better informed about the proposal because another debate took place. At the ballot box, however, you don’t know how people got informed. It could be that people didn’t look at the documents and just wrote something on a piece of paper without giving it much thought.”
On the other hand, the voter turnout at ballots is often higher than at community meetings. This fact in turn suggests that the ballot box decision is better legitimized, according to the political scientist.
Same question, different result depending on the form of voting. This pattern is also evident in other property transactions. Michael Strebel was able to prove this with the question of community mergers. In the case of Alpine solar systems, the different voting results show that Alpine solar systems are very controversial overall.