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The 49 electoral districts

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 28 October 1917. The Free Democratic Party retained its majority in the National Council.^[1] They were the last elections held under the majoritarian system; following a referendum in 1918 in which two-thirds of voters voted for the introduction of proportional representation, the electoral system was changed and early elections held in 1919.

Electoral system

The 189 members of the National Council were elected in 49 single- and multi-member constituencies using a three-round system. Candidates had to receive a majority in the first or second round to be elected; if it went to a third round, only a plurality was required. Voters could cast as many votes as there were seats in their constituency.^[2] There was one seat for every 20,000 citizens, with seats allocated to cantons in proportion to their population.^[2]

Results

Voter turnout was highest in Schaffhausen (where voting was compulsory) at 86.8% and lowest in Uri at 23.4%.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Free Democratic Party	210,323	40.84	103	–9
	Social Democratic Party	158,450	30.77	20	+2
	Conservative People's Party	84,784	16.46	42	+5
	Liberal Democratic Party	25,188	4.89	12	–4
	Democratic Group	16,818	3.27	7	+3
	Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	19,459	3.78	4	+3
	Others			1	+1
Total		515,022	100.00	189	0
Valid votes		515,022	94.04
Invalid/blank votes		32,630	5.96
Total votes		547,652	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		915,552	59.82
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] BFS (seats)

References