Facts
On 19 November 2009, the Grand Council of the Canton of Bern decided on a partial revision of the law on the taxation of road vehicles. On 16 April 2010, a committee submitted a popular initiative, which was covered by the popular vote on 13 February 2011. In this vote, both the proposal of the Grand Council and the popular initiative were approved, with the popular initiative narrowly prevailing in the decisive vote.
Two appeals were filed with the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern against the vote, demanding a recount of the votes. The Administrative Court then ordered the recount. However, during the preparation for the recount, it was found that over 5% of the ballot papers from 29 municipalities had been destroyed. Thereupon, the Government Council of the Canton of Bern revoked the order for the recount and instead ordered the repeat of the popular vote.
Considerations
The Federal Court held that the Government Council of the Canton of Bern was entitled to order the repeat of the popular vote on its own authority. This was compatible with the constitutional law of the Confederation and the Canton of Bern.
In terms of content, the Federal Court justified that due to the…