At stake in this election:

• 46 seats in the Council of States (Standerat/Conseil des Etats/ Consiglio degli Stati)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Micheline CALMY-REY *
• Head of Government: President Micheline CALMY-REY
• Assembly: Switzerland has a bicameral Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung/Assemblée Fédérale/Assemblea Federale) consisting of the Council of States (Standerat/Conseil des Etats/ Consiglio degli Stati) with 46 seats and the National Council (Nationalrat/Conseil National/Consiglio Nazionale) with 200 seats.

* The Federal Presidency rotates among members of the Federal Council, which is the formal chief of state.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is appointed by parliament to serve a 1-year term.
• In the Council of States (Standerat/Conseil des Etats/ Consiglio degli Stati), 6 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 20 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms*. In the National Council (Nationalrat/Conseil National/Consiglio Nazionale), 195 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 5 members are elected by a plurality system to serve 4-year terms.**

* Single-member districts correspond to half-cantons. The electoral system is first-past-the-post. Two-seat districts correspond to full cantons. The electoral system is MNTV.

** Seats are apportioned to each canton or half-canton in proportion to its population. Voters have the option of panachage. In single-member districts, this is effectively a first-past-the-post system.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Swiss People's Party / Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP-UDC)
  • Leader: Tori BRUNNER
  • Seats won in last Council of States election: 6
  • Seats won in last National Council election: 58
• Party: Social Democratic Party / Sozialdemokratische Partei der Schweiz, Parti socialiste suisse, Partito Socialista Svizzero (SPS)
  • Leader: Christian LEVRAT
  • Seats won in last Council of States election: 9
  • Seats won in last National Council election: 200
• Party: FDP.The Liberals / FDP.Die Liberalen, PLR.Les Libéraux-Radicaux, PLR.I Liberali, PLD.Ils Liberals (FDP)
  • Leader: Fulvio PELLI
  • Seats won in last Council of States election: 12
  • Seats won in last National Council election: 25
• Party: Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) / Christlichdemokratische Volkspartei der Schweiz, Parti Démocrate-Chrétien, Partito Popolare Democratic
  • Leader: Christophe DARBELLAY
  • Seats won in last Council of States election: 31
  • Seats won in last National Council election: 15
• Party: Green Party / Grüne Partei der Schweiz; Les verts – Parti écologiste suisse, Verdi – Partito ecologista svizzero
  • Leader: Ueli LEUENBERGER
  • Seats won in last Council of States election: 2
  • Seats won in last National Council election: 20

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 7,912,398 (2011)
• Registered Voters: 5,120,379 (2011)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 4,011,746 (2011)

·         Is Switzerland a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (23 January 1987)

·         Has Switzerland ratified CEDAW: Yes (27 March 1997)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 57 (National Council); 9 (Council of States) following the 2011 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 3 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Switzerland a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Switzerland ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (15 April 2014)

·         Population with a disability: 1,186,859 (est.)