Rejection of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative due to the Majority of the Cantons

Facts

On November 29, 2020, the federal popular vote on the popular initiative "For responsible companies - to protect people and the environment" (Corporate Responsibility Initiative) took place. According to the provisional official final results, the cantons rejected the popular initiative in the ratio of 12 5/2 to 8 1/2, while the eligible voters approved the popular initiative with a majority of 1,299,173 yes votes (50.73%) to 1,261,673 no votes (49.27%).

By submission dated December 4, 2020, a person eligible to vote in the canton of Zurich filed a referendum complaint with the Cantonal Government of the Canton of Zurich pursuant to Art. 77 para. 1 lit. b of the Federal Act on Political Rights (BPR), requesting that the referendum result of November 29, 2020 on the Corporate Responsibility Initiative be declared invalid. In essence, he argued that the rejection of the popular initiative due to the majority of the cantons violated the principle of legal equality and the prohibition of discrimination.

Several persons eligible to vote in the canton of Zurich also filed voting and referendum complaints with the Cantonal Government of the Canton of Zurich pursuant to Art. 77 para. 1 lit. a and b BPR, requesting that the popular vote on the aforementioned popular initiative be annulled, and that the adoption of the popular initiative be subsequently determined. In essence, they argue that the rejection of the aforementioned popular initiative violates the basic principles of democracy and the principle that all voters have the same political rights and that all votes are formally treated equally.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court does not enter into the complaints.

According to the case law of the Federal Supreme Court, defects in the preparation of elections and votes must be criticized immediately and before the polling takes place, otherwise the eligible voter forfeits his right to complain in principle. This practice is intended to ensure that defects can be remedied as far as possible before the election or vote and that the polling does not have to be repeated.

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