Local elections in Ticino – Marco Chiesa elected to the Lugano city council – News

  • The former president of the SVP Switzerland Marco Chiesa has been elected to the executive of the largest city in Ticino, Lugano.
  • He achieved the second-best result in the city council elections with 10,484 votes.
  • In Locarno and Ascona there are changes in the city and municipal councils.

Only incumbent mayor Michele Foletti from the Lega dei Ticinesi was ahead of Chiesa. He received 11,311 votes. The second previous Lega city councilor Lorenzo Quadri came in third place in the Luganese city council elections with 9,485 votes. The newly elected SP city councilor Raoul Ghisletta received the fewest votes (4506). He was able to defend the seat of the resigned city councilor Cristina Zanini Barzaghi. The former Ticino center councilor Filippo Lombardi was confirmed as Lugano city councilor. He was in the lower middle field with 5,398 votes.

The question remains whether Chiesa will also run for the office of mayor. Although the SVP and Lega present a joint list in Lugano, they are competitors in the race for the office of city president.

The question of whether there could be a change at the top of the city government has caused some discussions and hot heads in recent weeks and months. In the Ticino parliamentary elections a year ago, the SVP recorded gains, while the Lega lost seats in the Grand Council. But so far, the largest Swiss party has hardly been able to transfer its triumph in the legislature to the executive branch.

Legend:

From the SVP to the city council? Chiesa has not revealed his ambitions.

Keystone/URS FLUEELER

The Left is the provisional loser of the Ticino local elections in 2024 – this can at least be determined after the executive count. The legislative vote will not be counted until Monday.

According to a comparison with the results of the last local elections by the radio and television of the Italian-speaking Switzerland RSI, the center party (7 seats), Lega and SVP (6 seats) and the FDP (4 seats) won seats. The SP and the Greens lost 13 seats in the counted executives and are the provisional losers of the Ticino local elections in 2024.

The reason for the local elections, which are split over two days, is the so-called law on the exercise of political rights. This stipulates, among other things, that the ballot boxes must be transported to the Ticino canton capital Bellinzona and the votes must be counted there, as the government spokesman explained.

New “Sindaci” in Locarno and Ascona

In total, new executives were elected in 81 municipalities in Ticino and new legislatures were elected in 80 municipalities. In the other municipalities there are silent elections or the elections have been postponed. In some communities there are also community assemblies instead of community parliaments.

Invalid elections in Arbedo-Castione


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The local council elections in Arbedo-Castione were declared invalid. As the State Chancellery announced, some “systematic irregularities” were found in the ballot papers. These would affect approximately fifty ballots for the executive branch and some for the legislative branch.

Due to the irregularities, the counting process was interrupted. The cantonal audit office, which oversees the counting, then determined that there was systematic manipulation of the ballot papers and declared the election invalid.

The case was reported to the public prosecutor. This caused the ballot papers to be confiscated.

A new era is ushering in two larger towns in Locarnese. In the film city of Locarno, Alain Scherrer (FDP) is no longer standing for election after nine years. A successor to Luca Pissoglio is being sought in Ascona. The politician, who also belongs to the FDP, served as mayor for 12 years.

At the top of the cantonal capital Bellinzona, however, everything will most likely remain the same: Mayor Mario Branda (SP) is running for a fourth term in office after 12 years. However, his deputy Simone Gianini from the FDP, who was elected to the National Council in October, announced his resignation.

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