Facts
The Federal Court had to decide on a complaint against the result of the federal popular vote of June 14, 2015, on the amendment of the Federal Act on Radio and Television (RTVA). The complainants demanded a nationwide recount of the result, as the result was very close.
The Federal Assembly had passed various amendments to the RTVA on September 26, 2014, against which a referendum was taken. The vote took place on June 14, 2015, and the provisional official final result showed an acceptance of the proposal with 1,128,369 yes votes to 1,124,673 no votes with a turnout of 42.8%.
The complainants filed voting complaints with the governments of the cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Zurich, which were rejected. The complainants then appealed to the Federal Court, which dismissed the complaints.
Considerations
The Federal Court justified its decision by stating that a general and unconditional claim to a recount of very close voting results cannot be derived from Art. 34 para. 2 Cst. A direct obligation to recount from the Federal Constitution exists only in those closely contested cases where the citizen can point to concrete indications of incorrect counting or unlawful behavior by the competent authorities.
The Federal Court stated that Art. 77 para. 1 lit. b PRA is not to be interpreted as meaning that there is a general and unconditional claim to a recount of a very close voting result, even if there are no external indications that the count was not correct. Rather, such a claim is only given if there are additional external indications that the count was not correct.
The Federal Court…