Swiss voters reject proposal to cap population at ten million

Members of the left-wing Social Democratic Party on Sunday celebrated early projections that showed Swiss voters have said "no" to the initiative to cap the population at ten million. Keystone / Anthony Anex

Swiss citizens have rejected by a 55% majority the right-wing Swiss People's Party proposal to limit the population to ten million, final results of Sunday's polls show. The civilian service reform, for its part, has passed.

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Final results published by research institute gfs.bern indicate voters have rejected the “No to ten million” immigration initiative by a 54.8% majority, compared to 45.2% who approved it. Meanwhile, a legislative reform designed to make civilian service less attractive passed with 52.5% of the vote.

Turnout was 58%, which is high compared to previous votes.

French-speaking Switzerland voted for a decisive rejection of the population cap initiative, said Lukas Golder, an analyst at gfs.bern. In canton Neuchatel, 67.3% of voters said “no” to the initiative, while the figure was 65.4% in Geneva and 64.5% in Vaud. That said, the rejection was most resounding in German-speaking Basel-City, with 73.5%. By contrast, the small rural canton of Appenzell Inner Rhodes in northeastern Switzerland voted “yes” by a 65.9% majority.

More Swiss Politics June 14 votes: results from across Switzerland This content was published on “No to ten million” immigration initiative is also being scrutinized internationally. Revision of the law aims to tighten access to civilian service. You can find all the results here. Read more: June 14 votes: results from across Switzerland

“The countryside has very clearly said ‘yes’, but the cities tipped the balance,” People’s Party president Marcel Dettling told Swiss public radio SRF. Sunday’s result aside, he said the country’s problems would persist. “I urge those who are celebrating today to tackle these problems,” he said.

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