Foreign nationals in canton Bern do not have the right to vote on cantonal or communal matters.
Keystone-SDA
The Bern cantonal government has launched a consultation process concerning the possible introduction of optional voting rights for foreign residents at the municipality level.
+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
Municipalities that wish to make use of this option must amend the relevant law, the cantonal government announced on Monday.
This move is in line with the motion entitled “Communal autonomy for political rights”, adopted by the Bern cantonal parliament by 77 votes to 73 in September 2024. In this motion, the parliament instructed the government to draw up the legal bases to enable the communes to decide whether they wish to extend voting rights to foreign residents.
More
Foreigner voting rights
Municipalities would thus be able to grant the right to vote to foreign nationals who have reached the age of 18, hold a permanent residence permit and have lived continuously for at least ten years in Switzerland, at least five years in canton Bern and at least three months in the municipality concerned.
Foreign nationals in canton Bern do not have the right to vote on cantonal or communal matters. In cantons Fribourg, Neuchâtel, Vaud and Jura, foreign nationals are entitled to vote at municipal level subject to certain conditions, such as a minimum period of residence.
The consultation period will run until 27 January 2026.
More
More
Voting rights for foreigners: Why this right is rarely used
Translated from French by DeepL/sb
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
