Dismissal of the voting complaint due to late submission to the lower court

Facts

On 20 December 2024, the Federal Assembly adopted the Federal Decree on cantonal real estate taxes on second homes (FF 2025 17), which provided for an amendment to the Federal Constitution with a new Article 127 paragraph 2bis. The Federal Council set the federal popular vote on this decree for 28 September 2025 (FF 2025 2124).

The complainant, Peter Locher, filed a voting complaint with the government of the Canton of Graubünden on 17 July 2025. He objected to a poster displayed in a post bus that advocated approval of the proposal. Locher requested that PostAuto AG or PostAuto Graubünden be prohibited, under threat of penalty, from further disseminating this voting propaganda on post bus routes. The government of the Canton of Graubünden did not entertain the complaint, considering that the complaint period had not been met and also denying its jurisdiction over inter-cantonal effects of the contested actions.

Locher filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court on 29 July 2025. He requested that the cantonal decision be set aside and that dissemination of the voting propaganda be prohibited. PostAuto AG requested dismissal of the appeal, while the Federal Chancellery considered the appeal to be late. The government of the Canton of Graubünden did not submit a statement.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court first examined the admissibility of the appeal. The appeal is directed against a decision of the government of the Canton of Graubünden concerning actions taken in the run-up to a federal popular vote and thus falls within the scope of the appeal for violation of political rights under Article 82 letter c FSCA. The complainant’s standing under Article 89 paragraph 3 FSCA was questionable, as he is not entitled to vote in the Canton of Graubünden. However, this question could remain open, as the appeal had to be dismissed for other reasons.

The central issue concerned compliance with the three-day appeal period under Article 77 paragraph 2 PRA. The complainant claimed to have first seen the contested poster in a post bus on 13 July 2025. The Federal Chancellery assumed that the period should already have been met by 16 July 2025, as the complainant should have recognised the poster as voting propaganda. The Federal Supreme Court found that the complainant had discovered the grounds for his appeal on 13 July 2025. The three-day period therefore began on 14 July 2025 and ended on 16 July 2025. The appeal was filed only on 17 July 2025 and was thus late.

The Federal Supreme Court emphasised that the short period under Article 77 paragraph 2 PRA imposes strict requirements, but does not constitute a…