Vaud has never distinguished itself as a champion of democracy. However, the ultra-low turnout in Sunday’s elections not only sobered Prime Minister Gorrite. The reasons for this are diffuse.
They want to defend the left majority in the Vaud State Council: the three SP women Rebecca Ruiz, Nuria Gorrite and Cesla Amarelle (from left) and the Green Vassilis Venizelos.
The President of the Canton of Vaud, Nuria Gorrite, is known for not mincing her words. This was not the case on Sunday afternoon, when the results of the general elections in Vaud – and thus also the turnout – were published. “In Ukraine people are dying for democracy these days. And we use the right to vote so little. We call on you to appreciate this precious commodity more, »she said in front of the assembled crowd of media.
In fact, Vaud experienced a black election Sunday in terms of democratic participation: only 34.3 percent of eligible citizens cast a ballot – fewer than at any time since 1998 (see infographic). Those elections were the last where going to the ballot box was physically necessary. Postal voting was then introduced in 2002, which immediately led to an increase of a whopping 12 percentage points. Since then, participation has been steadily declining again, with the slump between 2017 and 2022 being particularly pronounced (minus 4.6 percentage points).
In the Lausanne election center, the politicians puzzled over the reasons on Sunday. Many explanations were given, but nobody was able to provide a ready-made answer. The current context – keywords: Ukraine war and corona pandemic – may have played a role. In any case, it is quite possible that given the bleak future scenarios relating to the geopolitical world order, part of the population could not warm to the relatively “insignificant” cantonal and state council elections.
In Vaud, the envelope must be stamped
For its part, the Corona crisis has meant that certain sections of the population no longer feel that they are represented by institutional politics. The pandemic has also permanently changed our (consumer) behavior. Those who move more and more in the digital space may no longer even have a postage stamp at home, which is needed in Vaud to return the election documents. Such a hurdle can already be too high for the under-30s, who are already below average, as the discussion about e-voting shows.
But there are also a few local explanatory patterns. First of all: the people of Vaud have never distinguished themselves as champions of democracy. With a turnout of 41.4 percent, they finished fifth from bottom of all cantons in the 2019 federal elections, four years earlier they were even further behind. It cannot be ruled out that the franking obligation, which is unknown in many other cantons – postal votes in Switzerland account for around 90 percent – will have an impact on this.
Who benefits from the deep participation?
In addition, in the parliamentary elections of 2012, 2007 and 2002, federal votes were also always on the agenda, which probably mobilized an additional part of the electorate. However, this is not the case for the 2017 elections, which nonetheless drew significantly more people. Last but not least, the most recent polls lacked the absolute election locomotives such as Pierre-Yves Maillard (SP) or Pascal Broulis (FDP), who in the past were able to get votes far beyond party lines.
The question remains as to which political group benefited more from Sunday’s low turnout. There is no serious answer to that. However, one thing is clear: if a political group manages to persuade part of the abstinent population to go to the polls for the second ballot on April 10th, it has the best chance of success – because in recent decades the turnout in the second round has always been lower than in the first first.