Chamber:
	Nationalrat - Conseil national - Consiglio nazionale
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	20 October 1991
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in the National Council and for 37 of the 46 seats of the Council of States on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	In the 1991 general elections, a record number of 2560 candidates (including 832 women) from the 248 lists contested the 200 National Council seats, while nearly 100 vied for the Council of States. For the first time, the electorate included 18 and 19-year-olds. Noteworthy campaign issues concerned Switzerland’s relations with the European Community (a divisive question both between and within the contending parties) and the country’s immigration policy. Polling day was once again marked by a low voter turnout, a recurring national phenomenon. Final results returned to power the four-party coalition that has governed the country since 1959 through the “magic formula”. These four groups - the Radicals, Social Democrats, Christian Democrats and Swiss People’s Party - share the seven seats on the Federal Council (governing executive). Gains by smaller extremist parties nevertheless reduced the coalition’s overall National Council total from 160 to 147 seats. Prominent among these was the right-wing Automobilists’ Party, which campaigned, inter alia, for curbing those seeking asylum in Switzerland. Altogether 66 successful candidates were newcomers to the National Council. With respect to the Council of States, the coalition lost one seat, dropping its total to 41. On 4 December, the Federal Assembly re-elected the seven outgoing members of the Federal Council for four years. Mr. René Felber, Head of the Department for Foreign Affairs, was elected President of the Swiss Confederation for 1992.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (20 October 1991): Elections results
Number of registered electors	4,510,784
Voters	2,076,886 (46.04%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	32,777
Valid votes	2,044,109

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Radical-Democratic Party	424,802	21.0
Social-Democratic Party	385,622	19.1
Christian-Democratic People’s Party	368,405	18.2
Swiss People’s Party	240,353	11.9
Ecological Party	140,824	7.0
Automobilist’s Party	103,541	5.1
Swiss Democrats*	68,454	3.4
Independent Alliance	61,176	3.0
Liberal Party	61,093	3.0
Evangelical People’s Party	38,222	1.9
Ticino League	28,181	1.4
Federal Democratic Union	20,143	1.0
Labour Party	14,806	0.7
Christian Social Party	7,903	0.4
Women in Politics	5,143	0.3
Progressive Organizations of Switzerland/Green Alliance	4,526	0.2

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Gain/Loss
Radical-Democratic Party	44	-7
Social-Democratic Party	42	=
Christian-Democratic People’s Party	36	-6
Swiss People’s Party	25	=
Ecological Party	14	+5
Automobilist’s Party	8	+6
Swiss Democrats*	5	+2
Independent Alliance	6	-3
Liberal Party	10	+1
Evangelical People’s Party	3	=
Ticino League	2	+2
Federal Democratic Union	1	+1
Labour Party	2	+1
Christian Social Party	1	+1
Women in Politics	1	+1
Progressive Organizations of Switzerland/Green Alliance	0	-4

Comments:
	* Formerly the National Action Party.

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	165
Women:	35

Distribution of seats according to profession:
Lawyers, notaries	34
Teachers	25
Employers in industry and business	24
Farmers	25
Engineers, architects	13
Journalists, editors	14
Liberal professions (non-legal)	5
Party officials	1
Others (including officials of employer or trade union organizations, State councillors, mayors)	59