The SBC initiative seeks to reduce the annual licence fee for the national broadcaster from CHF335 ($431) to CHF200 and exempt all businesses.
Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott
The Swiss look set to dismiss a proposal to reduce funding for the television and radio licence fee of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), according to initial projections. On Sunday they also voted on a shift to individual taxation for married couples, the creation of a climate fund, and anchoring cash in the constitution.
After polling stations closed at noon, second vote projections published at 1pm have confirmed early trends: 62% of voters rejected licence fee cuts, 71% rejected a climate fund, 55% accepted individual taxation for married couples, and 73% accepted a counterproposal to the cash initiative. Turnout was 56%.
“The outcome is a victory for the Swiss government. Voters followed them on all national vote issues,” commented Lukas Golder, a political scientist at the gfs.bern research institute. “It’s a sign of trust.” The clear ‘no’ trend to reducing the media licence fee and ‘yes’ to individual taxation is based on strong participation in cities, which tend to lean to the left, he said.
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March 8, 2026 vote: the result from across Switzerland
The “SBC initiativeExternal link”, backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts and the youth wing of the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party, had sought to cut the annual media licence fee from CHF335 ($431) to CHF200 and exempt all businesses. Swissinfo is part of the SBC which funds half its budget via the licence fee.
On Sunday the SBC said it was pleased about the broad support from “all parts of society”. In a statement SBC director-general Susanne Wille said the result of the vote was an obligation to do everything possible to “continue to accompany the public with a diverse and high-quality programme in everyday life”.
Despite the clear no, Urs Furrer, director of the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts, told Swiss public television SRF that another attempt would be made to at least abolish fees for businesses. He didn’t want to elaborate on the form this would take.
Supporters had argued Switzerland’s licence fee – the highest in the world – must fall as living costs rise. They say the SBC should refocus on its core public service mission.
Opponents had warned that such cuts would severely reduce programming and regional coverage, undermining the diversity and quality of public-service media. They stressed the SBC’s unique role serving all four national languages and its independence from commercial ownership.
This was the second people’s initiative in the past decade aiming to cut SBC funding. The “No Billag” initiative to abolish the licence fee entirely was rejected by 71% of voters in 2018. Although the proposal was rejected on Sunday, the licence fee will still be reduced to CHF300 per household by 2029 after a government decision.
>> Read more in our explainer on the SBC initiative:
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Explainer: Swiss to vote on initiative to cut media licence fee
The end of the ‘marriage tax penalty’?
Swiss voters also decided on a referendumExternal link on a proposal to introduce individual – rather than joint – taxation for married couples. After a vote campaign which suggested a tight race, projections on Sunday reckon the reform will ultimately be accepted by 55% of citizens.
Currently, married couples file a joint tax return, combining the incomes and assets of both spouses. Depending on the income split, they may pay more or less than unmarried couples. Under the reform, however, each spouse would file separately, a move which would – in a majority of cases – reduce the tax bill and remove the so-called ‘marriage penalty’.
Backers of the change argued that individual taxation would spur women – who often have part-time positions in Switzerland – to work more; this would also help to ease the shortage of skilled labour, they said. The joint model also stems from a time when women’s incomes were seen as an ‘add-on’ to that of their husbands. As such, the change marks a “milestone for equality and prosperity”, Kathrin Bertschy from the Liberal Green Party told SRF on Sunday.
Critics, who launched the referendum against the change, said it would undermine the traditional family model and mainly benefit dual-income over single-income households, especially when high incomes are involved. Various cantons – who now have until 2032 to implement the reform – also warned of fiscal losses and hefty administrative burden in processing the new tax returns.
Meanwhile the story is not over: another pending initiative, backed by the Centre party, also aims to scrap the ‘marriage penalty’, but in a different way – and without getting rid of joint taxation. On Sunday, Centre leader Philipp Matthias Bregy told Tamedia newspapersExternal link that his party was not planning to withdraw the initiative; what would happen in future if voters were to accept it, after having now backed an individual taxation model, is unclear.
>> For more details, check out our explainer on individual taxation:
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Swiss vote on individual taxation: end of the ‘marriage tax penalty’?
Cash in the constitution
For another issue on the ballot on Sunday the result looks set to be clearer: a government-backed counterproposal to the “Cash is freedomExternal link” initiative is heading for public backing of over 70% – meaning cash will be anchored in the federal constitution.
The initiative was launched by the Swiss Freedom Movement, a group previously known for campaigning against mandatory vaccinations and 5G. With cash, it touched a societal nerve: although the Swiss – like in many other countries – are paying less and less with cash, and increasingly with cards and payment apps, most still report a strong attachment to notes and coins, which they don’t want to see disappear.
Government and a majority in parliament agreed with the aim of the initiative, but put forward a modified text, claiming the original wording was imprecise. According to the counterproposal, the constitution is thus set to specify that the Swiss currency is the franc, and that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) must ensure its supply – a clause widely seen as symbolic, and which will have “no practical impact”, as the government wrote.
Richard Koller, the head of the Swiss Freedom Movement, meanwhile labelled the outcome on Sunday a “success” – even though his initial text looked set to be rejected (voters had their say both on the initiative and the counterproposal). The fact that cash is in the constitution is the main thing, he told SRF. And that the campaign was driven by a small group – without major political backing – also marked a “victory for direct democracy”, he said.
>> Here is our explainer on the “Cash is freedom” initiative:
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Swiss to vote on preserving cash as a payment system
Climate fund flop
According to the early vote projections, an initiativeExternal link to create a federal fund to boost the development of renewable energies and protect the country’s biodiversity looks set to clearly fail; 71% of voters are against the climate fund initiative. The proposal is unlikely to pass in any of the 27 cantons, including urban regions.
Unlike the other proposals being decided on Sunday, left-wing and Green parties were unable to capitalise on increased mobilisation, according to Lukas Golder of the gfs.bern research institute.
Launched by the left-wing Social Democratic Party and the Greens, the initiative called for 0.5% to 1% of Switzerland’s GDP a year – roughly CHF 4–8 billion (2024 figure) – to be invested in climate and nature protection and in expanding renewable energies, including solar power.
The government and a parliamentary majority argued the plan was too costly and would have limited impact, noting Switzerland already spends about CHF2 billion a year on climate and energy measures and CHF600 million on biodiversity.
Centre-right opponents hailed the result, calling it a message against new public spending. Fabio Regazzi of the Centre Party said voters had rejected “unbridled spending” and backed a more targeted climate policy. People’s Party lawmaker Manfred Bühler called the fund “delusional”, arguing decarbonisation must proceed “at a bearable pace”.
Initiative supporters meanwhile lamented a “missed opportunity”.
“Inaction is not an option,” said the Green Party in a statement. “The centre-right majority in parliament and the Federal Council must now assume their responsibilities and show how they intend to put Swiss climate policy on the right track to achieving the net-zero target decided by the population.”
Despite this being the third climate proposal rejected since 2025, left-wing leaders reject the idea of public fatigue. Lisa Mazzone, president of the Green Party, argued that the climate remains a top voter concern and that the result reflected objections to the chosen instrument, not to climate action.
>> Read more about the climate fund initiative:
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Explainer: Should some of Switzerland’s wealth be set aside to fight climate change?
Edited by Reto Gysi von Wartburg
