Parliament Act (ParlA)
Amended by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2008 (Parliamentary Law. Miscellaneous Amendments), in force since 2 March 2009 (AS 2009 725; BBl 2008 1869, 3177).
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Chapter 1 General Provisions on Elections
Art. 130 Principles
1 Voting in elections in the Federal Assembly is carried out by secret ballot. 2 The persons elected shall be those whose names are written on more than half of the valid ballot papers. 3 When determining an absolute majority, uncompleted invalid ballot papers shall not be counted. 4 If more candidates achieve an absolute majority than there are vacant seats, the surplus candidates with the lower numbers of votes shall be eliminated.
Art. 131 Invalidity and cancelled votes
1 Ballot papers that contain defamatory statements or obviously irrelevant markings shall be declared invalid. 2 Votes for persons not eligible for election, or who have already been elected or eliminated from the election, together with votes for persons who are not adequately identified are cancelled. 3 If the name of a candidate is written more than once on a ballot paper, the surplus name or names are deleted. 4 If the ballot paper contains more names than there are mandates to be allocated, the surplus names are deleted, beginning from the end of the list. 5 If the number of ballot papers received exceeds that of the ballot papers distributed, the ballot shall be declared invalid and shall be rerun.
Chapter 2 Elections to the Federal Council
Art. 132 Complete re-election
1 The members of the Federal Council are elected by the United Federal Assembly in the session following the general election to the National Council. 2 The seats are filled individually, one after the other, in the order of the length of period in office of the serving office holders. Seats for which serving members of the Federal Council are standing as candidates are filled first. 3 In the first two ballots, any person who is eligible for election may be voted for. From the third ballot onwards, no additional candidatures are permitted. 4 Excluded from the election are: a. those who obtain fewer than ten votes from the second ballot onwards; and b. the person who receives the lowest number of votes from the third ballot onwards, unless more than one person receives this same number of votes.
Art. 133 Election to vacant seats
1 Elections in respect of vacant seats are normally held in the session following receipt of the letter of resignation of the member, following a member unexpectedly vacating his or her seat or following the declaration that the member is unable to discharge his or her duties of office. 2 The newly elected member assumes office at the latest two months after his or her election. 3 If elections are held to more than one vacant seat, the order in which the elections are held is determined by the length of period in office of the previous office holder.
Para. 1 — Amended by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2008 (Parliamentary Law. Miscellaneous Amendments), in force since 2 March 2009 (AS 2009 725; BBl 2008 1869, 3177).
Art. 134 Election to the Presidency of the Federal Council
The President of the Confederation and the Vice-President of the Federal Council are elected from its members individually, one after the other, for a term of office of one year.
Chapter 3 Elections to the Federal Courts
Art. 135 Complete re-election
1 Elections to the federal courts take place before the end of the ongoing term of office. Separate elections are held for each of the various courts, as well as for each of the judges and part-time judges. 2 The elections take place either by means of the re-election of members who are standing for re-election or, in the case of vacant seats or the removal of a member, by means of a supplementary election.
Art. 136 Re-election
1 The ballot paper is a list of names of the members standing for election, in the order of the length of their period in office. 2 The voters may delete the names of individual candidates. Additional names are not taken into consideration. Ballot papers on which all the names have been deleted remain valid and count towards the calculation of the absolute majority. 3 Only one ballot is held. Candidates who do not achieve an absolute majority may stand in the supplementary election.
Art. 137 Supplementary Elections
1 Supplementary elections take place if a vacant seat arises or a member is not re-elected. 2 If by the day before the elections the office the United Federal Assembly has not received more candidate nominations than there are vacant seats, a list of the names of the candidates in alphabetical order shall serve as the ballot paper, or a list without names but with the same number of lines as there are seats to be filled. 3 In the first two ballots, all those who are eligible for election may be elected. From the third ballot onwards no further candidatures are permitted. 4 Excluded from the election are: a. those who obtain fewer than ten votes from the second ballot onwards; and b. from the third ballot onwards, provided there are more candidates than vacant seats, the person who receives the lowest number of votes, unless more than one person receives this same number of votes.
Art. 138 Elections to the Presidency of the Federal Courts
The president and the vice-president of a court are elected for a term of office of two years. They are elected at the same time on two separate ballot papers.
Chapter 4 Other Elections
Art. 139
The Federal Assembly shall conduct other elections provided for by the Constitution or the law in accordance with the rules on the elections to the Federal Council.
Chapter 5 Verification of Elections
Art. 140
1 The Federal Assembly shall conduct the verification of elections to the extent that this is provided for by the law. 2 A committee of the United Federal Assembly shall appraise the elections, with the exception of the election of the General Secretary of the Federal Assembly. The committee may for this purpose hear the person whose election is to be verified, together with a delegation from nominating authority. The committee shall request the United Federal Assembly to confirm the election or not. 3 The United Federal Assembly shall decide by secret ballot and by a majority of its voting members whether the election is to be confirmed or not. If the election is rejected, the nominating authority must hold a new election.
Chapter 6 Declaration that a Federal Councillor or
Inserted by No I of the FA of 3 Oct. 2008 (Parliamentary Law. Miscellaneous Amendments), in force since 2 March 2009 (AS 2009 725; BBl 2008 1869, 3177).
Art. 140a
1 The Federal Assembly shall decide on whether to declare a Federal Councillor or the Federal Chancellor unable to discharge their duties of office. 2 The Office of the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council shall be eligible to request such a declaration. 3 Inability to discharge the duties of office must be presumed if the following requirements are fulfilled: a. owing to serious health problem or other reasons that prevent him or her from returning to work, the person concerned is manifestly unable carry out his or her duties; b. the situation is expected to continue for a considerable length of time; c. the person concerned has failed to tender his or her legally valid resignation within a reasonable time. 4 The United Federal Assembly shall make its decision at the latest in the session following the submission of the request. 5 The relevant position shall become vacant upon the declaration that the person concerned is unable to discharge the duties of office.