1863 Swiss federal election

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 25 October 1863. The Radical Left remained the largest group in the National Council, but lost its majority for the first time since 1848.[1]

The 47 electoral districts

Electoral system

The 128 members of the National Council were elected in 47 single- and multi-member constituencies; there was one seat for every 20,000 citizens, with seats allocated to cantons in proportion to their population.[2] As a result of the 1860 census, the number of seats was increased by eight following the previous elections in 1860, although the number of constituencies was reduced from 49; the extra seats were given to Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Graubünden, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Vaud and Valais. The elections were held using a three-round system; candidates had to receive a majority in the first or second round to be elected; if it went to a third round, only a plurality was required. Voters could cast as many votes as there were seats in their constituency.[2] In six cantons (Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Glarus, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri), National Council members were elected by the Landsgemeinde.

Results

Summary

Voter turnout was highest in the Canton of Schaffhausen (where voting was compulsory) at 88.2% and lowest in the Canton of Zürich at 18.6%.

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Radical Left 44.1 59 –5
Liberal Centre 23.8 37 0
Catholic Right 19.0 21 +6
Democratic Left 6.7 6 +5
Evangelical Right 4.6 5 +2
Independents 1.8 0 0
Total 259,398 100 128 +8
Registered voters/turnout 556,738 46.6
Source: BFS

By constituency

Constituency Seats Party Seats
won
Elected members
Zürich 1 4 Liberal Centre 3
  • Alfred Escher
  • Jakob Dubs
  • Georg Joseph Sidler
Evangelical Right 1 Paul Carl Eduard Ziegler
Zürich 2 3 Liberal Centre 3
  • Heinrich Honegger
  • Johann Jakob Widmer
  • Johann Heinrich Fierz
Zürich 3 3 Liberal Centre 3
  • Eduard Suter
  • Heinrich Grunholzer
  • Rudolf Wäffler
Zürich 4 3 Liberal Centre 3
  • Rudolf Benz
  • Ulrich Meister Sr.
  • Johann Jakob Bucher
Bern 5 4 Radical Left 4
  • Jakob Scherz
  • Friedrich Seiler
  • Karl Engemann
  • Johann Jakob Karlen
Bern 6 4 Evangelical Right 2
  • Christoph Albert Kurz
  • Eduard Blösch
Radical Left 2
  • Jakob Stämpfli
  • Karl W. von Graffenried
Bern 7 4 Radical Left 4
  • Karl Karrer
  • Samuel Lehmann
  • Johann Ulrich Gfeller
  • Ludwig Wyss
Bern 8 4 Radical Left 4
  • Jakob Steiner
  • Johann Rudolf Vogel
  • Johann Bützberger
  • Johann Weber
Bern 9 3 Radical Left 2
  • Niklaus Niggeler
  • Johann Rudolf Schneider
Evangelical Right 1 Peter von Känel
Bern 10 4 Radical Left 4
  • Paul Migy
  • Édouard Carlin
  • Cyprien Revel
  • Xavier Stockmar
Lucerne 11 2 Liberal Centre 1 Josef Martin Knüsel
Radical Left 1 Wilhelm Schindler
Lucerne 12 2 Catholic Right 2
  • Philipp Anton von Segesser
  • Vinzenz Fischer
Lucerne 13 3 Radical Left 3
  • Anton Hunkeler
  • Hans Theiler
  • Anton Wapf
Uri 14 1 Catholic Right 1 Alexander Muheim
Schwyz 15 2 Catholic Right 2
  • Karl Styger
  • Karl Benziger
Obwalden 16 1 Catholic Right 1 Franz Wirz
Nidwalden 17 1 Liberal Centre 1 Alois Wyrsch
Glarus 18 2 Liberal Centre 2
  • Joachim Heer
  • Peter Jenny
Zug 19 1 Liberal Centre 1 Wolfgang Henggeler
Fribourg 20 3 Catholic Right 3
  • Alfred Vonderweid
  • Samuel Presset
  • Laurent Chaney
Fribourg 21 2 Catholic Right 2
  • Louis de Wuilleret
  • Pierre-Théodule Fracheboud
Solothurn 22 3 Radical Left 2
  • Simon Kaiser
  • Benedikt von Arx
Catholic Right 1 Franz Bünzli
Basel-Stadt 23 2 Liberal Centre 1 Johann Jakob Stehlin
Radical Left 1 Wilhelm Klein
Basel-Landschaft 24 3 Radical Left 3
  • Jakob Graf
  • Jakob Joseph Adam
  • Stephan Gutzwiller
Schaffhausen 25 2 Liberal Centre 1 Friedrich Peyer im Hof
Democratic Left 1 Wilhelm Joos
Appenzell Ausserrhoden 26 2 Liberal Centre 2
  • Johannes Roth
  • Adolf Friedrich Zürcher
Appenzell Innerhoden 27 1 Catholic Right 1 Johann Baptist Dähler
St. Gallen 28 3 Liberal Centre 3
  • Johann Baptist Weder
  • Joseph Marzell Hoffmann
  • Wilhelm Matthias Naeff
St. Gallen 29 3 Liberal Centre 2
  • Josef Leonhard Bernold
  • Paravizin Hilty
Democratic Left 1 Basil Ferdinand Curti
St. Gallen 30 3 Radical Left 1
  • Carl Georg Jakob Sailer
  • Johann M. Hungerbühler
Democratic Left 1 Georg Friedrich Anderegg
Grisons 31 2 Radical Left 1 Johann Gaudenz von Salis
Liberal Centre 1 Simeon Bavier
Grisons 32 2 Radical Left 1 Alois de Latour
Catholic Right 1 Johann R. von Toggenburg
Grisons 33 1 Liberal Centre 1 Andreas Rudolf von Planta
Aargau 34 3 Liberal Centre 3
  • Friedrich Frey-Herosé
  • Adolf Fischer
  • Carl Feer-Herzog
Aargau 35 4 Liberal Centre 2
  • Johann Rudolf Ringier
  • Gottlieb Jäger
Radical Left 2
  • Johann Peter Bruggisser
  • Augustin Keller
Aargau 36 3 Catholic Right 2
  • Wilhelm Karl Baldinger
  • Peter Acklin
Radical Left 1 Franz Waller
Thurgau 37 5 Liberal Centre 2
  • Johann Messmer
  • Johann Joachim Lüthi
Catholic Right 1 Augustin Ramsperger
Radical Left 1 Johann Ludwig Sulzberger
Democratic Left 1 Fridolin Anderwert
Ticino 38 3 Radical Left 3
  • Antonio Bossi
  • Costantino Bernasconi
  • Carlo Battaglini
Ticino 39 3 Radical Left 2
  • Giovanni Battista Pioda
  • Giovanni Jauch
Catholic Right 1 Michele Pedrazzini
Vaud 40 4 Radical Left 2
  • Constant Fornerod
  • François Corboz
Liberal Centre 1 Édouard Dapples
Democratic Left 1 Jules Eytel
Vaud 41 4 Liberal Centre 2
  • Jean-Louis Demiéville
  • Charles Bontems
Radical Left 2
  • Victor Ruffy
  • Abram-Daniel Meystre
Vaud 42 3 Radical Left 2
  • Louis-Henri Delarageaz
  • Jean-Louis Ancrenaz
Democratic Left 1 John Berney
Valais 43 2 Catholic Right 2
  • Alexis Allet
  • Adrien de Courten
Valais 44 1 Catholic Right 1 Charles de Rivaz
Valais 45 2 Radical Left 2
  • Maurice-Antoine Cretton
  • Louis Barman
Neuchâtel 46 4 Radical Left 4
  • Alexis-Marie Piaget
  • Jules Philippin
  • Ami Girard
  • Louis Grandpierre
Geneva 47 4 Radical Left 4
  • Alexis-Marie Piaget
  • Jules Philippin
  • Ami Girard
  • Louis Grandpierre
Source: Gruner[3]

Council of States

Party Seats +/–
Catholic Right 17 +4
Liberal Centre 13 0
Radical Left 9 –4
Evangelical Right 1 0
Democratic Left 0 0
Independents 4 0
Total 44 0
Source: The Federal Assembly

References

  1. Elections to the National Council 1848–1917: Distribution of seats by party or political orientation Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine BFS
  2. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1886 ISBN 9783832956097
  3. Gruner, Erich. Die Wahlen in den Schweizerischen Nationalrat 1848–1919. 3.
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