Federal votes Federal voting deadline on May 18 passes unused
No votes will be held at federal level on May 18. This was decided by the Federal Council on Wednesday. This means that 2025 will be a quiet voting year.
15.01.2025, 12:10
SDA
In three and a half weeks, the Young Greens' environmental responsibility initiative will be put to the vote. In addition, only one bill is currently ready for a vote: the property tax on second homes passed by parliament in December, which is intended to compensate the mountain regions for the losses caused by the abolition of the imputed rental value, which was also passed. It is subject to a mandatory referendum and therefore requires a majority of the people and the cantons.
According to the Federal Chancellery, the vote on this constitutional amendment will only be scheduled once it has been determined whether or not a referendum will be held against the amendment to the law on the abolition of the imputed rental value. This deadline runs until April 19. So far, no one has announced a collection of signatures.
The vote on the property tax is therefore expected to take place on September 28 or November 30. These two other Sundays are reserved for federal ballots this year.
It remains to be seen whether a second vote on the E-ID will be held this year. The Pirate Party and the Friends of the Constitution, Mass-Voll and Aufrecht Schweiz are currently collecting signatures for a referendum.
2026 is likely to be an intense voting year
At the request of the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Council determines which proposals will be put to the vote on a particular date at least four months before the date of the vote. Up to four voting Sundays are planned each year.
In 2024, twelve proposals were voted on nationally. One reason for this was that there were no substantive votes in the second half of the 2023 election year.
Next year, more proposals are likely to be put to the vote again. Various initiatives currently pending in parliament are then likely to be put to the people, including the neutrality initiative and the SRG initiative to halve radio and TV fees.
