Swiss voters have decisively rejected a call to require women to do national service in the military, civil protection teams or other forms as all men must do already.

Swiss voters on Sunday decisively rejected a call to require women to do national service in the military, civil protection teams or other forms, as all men must do already.

Official results. with counting still ongoing in some areas after a referendum, showed that more than half of Switzerland’s cantons, or states, had rejected the “citizen service initiative” by wide margins. That meant it was defeated, because proposals need a majority of both voters and cantons to pass.

Voters also heavily rejected a separate proposal to impose a new national tax on individual donations or inheritances of more than 50 million francs ($62 million), with the revenues to be used to fight the impact of climate change and help Switzerland meet its ambitions to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

  • ilinamorato@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    3 hours ago

    As an American, I have no room at all to judge this decision. But

    proposals need a majority of both voters and cantons to pass.

    That sounds amazing. Let’s do that, please.

    I mean, straight popular vote would probably be better. But this could really do what the Electoral College stans say that it was made to do, without doing what it actually does.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      2 hours ago

      That sounds amazing.

      It sounds arbitrary and heavily weighted to favor the smaller cantons. Same problem we have with the US Senate and the filibuster. Representatives for a meager 30M voters can obstruct policy championed by the other 300M