Facts
On 28 February 2016, the federal popular vote on the popular initiative "For Marriage and Family - Against the Marriage Penalty" took place. The initiative proposed to amend the Federal Constitution to ensure that marriage as a community of life between a man and a woman is not disadvantaged compared to other forms of life, in particular with regard to taxes and social insurance. The Federal Council recommended rejecting the initiative.
In a declaratory decision of 19 April 2016, the Federal Council determined that the popular initiative had been rejected by the people with 50.8% of the votes and accepted by the Cantons. The proposal was thus rejected.
In June 2018, the Federal Council informed that based on corrected estimates, not around 80,000, but around 454,000 dual-income married couples were affected by the tax marriage penalty. Thereupon, several persons filed a referendum appeal in their respective cantons of residence.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the Federal Council had insufficiently informed the eligible voters prior to the vote of 28 February 2016 about the number of dual-income married couples affected by the marriage penalty. The statement of "around 80,000" affected persons without indicating the considerable unreliability and lack of timeliness of this figure violated the principles of objectivity and transparency.
Although the initiative was rejected by a narrow majority, the difference in votes was small. Furthermore, the number of…