Swiss referendums, 2016

Thirteen referendums were held in Switzerland during 2016.

On 28 February 2016, referendums were held on four initiatives:

The government recommended the rejection of all three popular initiatives, but recommended approval of the amendments to the federal law on road transit in the Alpine region. The vote results followed these recommendations, with higher voter turnout than usual.

Five propositions were on the ballot for the 5 June 2016 referendum:

All three popular initiatives were rejected, whilst the two legislative amendments were approved. The voters thus again followed the recommendations of the government.

The discussion about basic income in Switzerland began in the 1980s, initially amongst academics such as sociologists who saw the potential to alleviate poverty better than the current system. But there was no major public debate in the 1980s nor the 1990s. In the early 2000s, however, things were slowly changing due to a spill-over from the German debate. Two basic income organizations were formed, "Initiative Grundeinkommen" and BIEN-Switzerland, and one ATTAC-group also became advocates. These organizations had some success, including some articles in national newspapers. The petition calling for a referendum on basic income as a constitutional right was started in April 2012. After six months 42,000 people had signed, and by April 2013 there were approximately 70,000 signatures. By October 2013 more than 130,000 citizens had signed, meaning a referendum on the issue had to be held. Publicity included a truck filled with eight million coins emptying the money in front of the Federal Palace in Bern. Even though the initiative's official text submitted to the vote did not specify any level, the campaigners proposed 2,500 Swiss francs for adults (about 1,650 USD at PPP in 2014) and 625 francs for children per month.

Three referendums were held on 25 September 2016; a popular initiative for a green economy (launched by the Green Party of Switzerland), a popular initiative concerning the retirement system and a referendum on the federal law on intelligence. Both of the popular initiatives were rejected, whilst the federal intelligence law was approved.

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