1869 Swiss federal election

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 31 October 1869. The Radical Left remained the largest group in the National Council.^[1]

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] 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

National Council

Voter turnout was highest in Aargau at 85.6% (higher than the 79.1% who voted in Schaffhausen, where voting was compulsory) and lowest in Schwyz and Zug at 22.1%.


14 56 31 24 3
Party		First round			Second round			Third round			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Radical Left	319,998	37.46	50	39,631	28.55	3	17,932	59.95	2	55
	Liberal Centre	253,951	29.73	29	29,224	21.05	1	3,433	11.48	1	31
	Democratic Left	129,260	15.13	8	50,054	36.05	6				14
	Catholic Right	120,248	14.08	22	13,987	10.07	1	8,547	28.57	1	24
	Evangelical Right	24,582	2.88	3	5,940	4.28	0				3
	Radical Left dissidents	6,122	0.72	1							1
Total		854,161	100.00	113	138,836	100.00	11	29,912	100.00	4	128

Source: BFS

By constituency

Constituency	Seats		Seats won	Elected members
Zürich 1	4	Liberal Centre	4	Jakob Dubs Alfred Escher Eduard Suter Johann Jakob Widmer
Zürich 2	3	Democratic Left	2	Johann Jakob Keller Walter Hauser
Zürich 2	3	Liberal Centre	1	Johann Heinrich Fierz
Zürich 3	3	Democratic Left	3	Hans Rudolf Zangger Johann Jakob Spörri Salomon Bleuler
Zürich 4	3	Democratic Left	3	Friedrich Scheuchzer Jakob Fehr Johann Jakob Scherer
Bern 5	4	Radical Left	4	Carl Samuel Zyro Friedrich Seiler Johann Jakob Karlen Jakob Scherz
Bern 6	4	Evangelical Right	3	Otto von Büren Samuel Steiner August von Gonzenbach
Bern 6	4	Radical Left	1	Rudolf Brunner
Bern 7	4	Radical Left	4	Karl Schenk Samuel Lehmann Ludwig Wyss Karl Karrer
Bern 8	4	Radical Left	3	Andreas Schmid Johann Bützberger Jakob Leuenberger
Bern 8	4	Liberal Centre	1	Daniel Flückiger
Bern 9	3	Radical Left	3	Eduard Marti Jakob Stämpfli Friedrich Eggli
Bern 10	4	Radical Left	4	Édouard Carlin Paul Migy Niklaus Kaiser Pierre Jolissaint
Lucerne 11	2	Liberal Centre	1	Josef Martin Knüsel
Lucerne 11	2	Radical Left	1	Josef Bucher
Lucerne 12	2	Catholic Right	2	Philipp Anton von Segesser Vinzenz Fischer
Lucerne 13	3	Catholic Right	3	Franz Xaver Beck Jost Peyer Adam Herzog
Uri 14	1	Catholic Right	1	Josef Arnold
Schwyz 15	2	Liberal Centre	1	Josef Anton Eberle
Schwyz 15	2	Catholic Right	1	Karl Styger
Obwalden 16	1	Catholic Right	1	Simon Ettlin
Nidwalden 17	1	Catholic Right	1	Alois Wyrsch
Glarus 18	2	Liberal Centre	1	Joachim Heer
Glarus 18	2	Radical Left	1	Peter Jenny II
Zug 19	1	Radical Left	1	Karl Josef Merz
Fribourg 20	3	Catholic Right	3	Louis de Weck Alfred Vonderweid Laurent Chaney
Fribourg 21	2	Catholic Right	2	Pierre-Théodule Fracheboud Louis de Wuilleret
Solothurn 22	3	Radical Left	2	Benedikt von Arx Simon Kaiser
Solothurn 22	3	Catholic Right	1	Franz Bünzli
Basel-Stadt 23	2	Liberal Centre	1	Johann Jakob Stehlin
Basel-Stadt 23	2	Radical Left	1	Wilhelm Klein
Basel-Landschaft 24	3	Radical Left	2	Emanuel Löw Stephan Gutzwiller
Basel-Landschaft 24	3	Liberal Centre	1	Martin Bider
Schaffhausen 25	2	Democratic Left	1	Wilhelm Joos
Schaffhausen 25	2	Liberal Centre	1	Friedrich Peyer im Hof
Appenzell Ausserrhoden 26	2	Liberal Centre	1	Adolf Friedrich Zürcher
Appenzell Ausserrhoden 26	2	Radical Left	1	Johannes Hohl
Appenzell Innerhoden 27	1	Catholic Right	1	Alois Broger
St. Gallen 28	3	Liberal Centre	2	Johann Baptist Weder Daniel Wirth-Sand
St. Gallen 28	3	Catholic Right	1	Johannes Zündt
St. Gallen 29	3	Radical Left	2	Josef Leonhard Bernold Johann Baptist Gaudy
St. Gallen 29	3	Liberal Centre	1	Johann Ulrich Ambühl
St. Gallen 30	3	Liberal Centre	2	Carl Georg Jakob Sailer Georg Friedrich Anderegg
St. Gallen 30	3	Radical Left	1	Johann M. Hungerbühler
Grisons 31	2	Liberal Centre	1	Simeon Bavier
Grisons 31	2	Radical Left	1	Gaudenz Gadmer
Grisons 32	2	Catholic Right	1	Johann R. von Toggenburg
Grisons 32	2	Radical Left	1	Johann Bartholome Caflisch
Grisons 33	1	Radical Left	1	Johann Albert Romedi
Aargau 34	3	Liberal Centre	2	Friedrich Frey-Herosé Carl Feer-Herzog
Aargau 34	3	Radical Left	1	Arnold Künzli
Aargau 35	4	Liberal Centre	3	Peter Suter Alois Isler Theodor Bertschinger
Aargau 35	4	Democratic Left	1	Rudolf Urech
Aargau 36	3	Catholic Right	2	Karl von Schmid Arnold Münch
Aargau 36	3	Liberal Centre	1	Fridolin Schneider
Thurgau 37	5	Democratic Left	4	Fridolin Anderwert Jakob Albert Scherb Friedrich Heinrich Häberlin Adolf Deucher
Thurgau 37	5	Liberal Centre	1	Johann Messmer
Ticino 38	3	Radical Left	3	Giuseppe Soldini Costantino Bernasconi Carlo Battaglini
Ticino 39	3	Catholic Right	1	Michele Pedrazzini
		Radical Left	1	Giovanni Jauch
		Liberal Centre	1	Luigi Rusca
Vaud 40	4	Radical Left	2	Victor Ruffy Louis Ruchonnet
Vaud 40	4	Liberal Centre	2	Charles Cossy Paul Cérésole
Vaud 41	4	Radical Left	3	Abram-Daniel Meystre Victor Perrin Georges-Louis Contesse
Vaud 41	4	Liberal Centre	1	Jean-Louis Demiéville
Vaud 42	3	Radical Left	3	Louis-Henri Delarageaz Charles Baud Henri Reymond
Valais 43	2	Catholic Right	2	Alexis Allet Hans Anton von Roten
Valais 44	1	Catholic Right	1	Maurice Evéquoz
Valais 45	2	Radical Left	2	Louis Barman Maurice-Antoine Cretton
Neuchâtel 46	4	Radical Left	3	Jules Philippin Édouard Desor Zélim Perret
Neuchâtel 46	4	Radical Left dissidents	1	Louis Constant Lambelet
Geneva 47	4	Radical Left	3	Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel Moïse Vautier Antoine Carteret
Geneva 47	4	Liberal Centre	1	François-Jules Pictet

Source: Gruner^[3]

Council of States


Party		Seats	+/–
	Catholic Right	14	0
	Liberal Centre	12	–1
	Radical Left	11	–1
	Democratic Left	4	+3
	Evangelical Right	0	0
	Independents	3	+1
Total		44	0

Source: The Federal Assembly

References

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

[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

[NS-2] Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1886 ISBN 9783832956097

[:0-3] Gruner, Erich. Die Wahlen in den Schweizerischen Nationalrat 1848–1919. Vol. 3.

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