1971 Swiss federal election

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 31 October 1971. Although the Social Democratic Party received the most votes, the Free Democratic Party emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 49 of the 200 seats. They were the first federal elections in which women were allowed to vote, following a referendum earlier in the year that introduced universal suffrage for federal elections.

Results

National Council

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	456,233	22.90	46	–4
	Free Democratic Party	432,259	21.70	49	0
	Christian Democratic People's Party	407,225	20.44	44	–1
	Swiss People's Party	220,487	11.07	23	–1
	Alliance of Independents	152,086	7.63	13	–3
	Republican Movement	84,700	4.25	7	+7
	National Action	63,781	3.20	4	+3
	Swiss Party of Labour	51,341	2.58	5	0
	Liberal Democratic Union	43,710	2.19	6	0
	Evangelical People's Party	42,778	2.15	3	0
	Independent Social-Christian Party	5,946	0.30	0	–
	Autonomous Socialist Party	5,271	0.26	0	New
	Swiss Progressive Organisations	1,820	0.09	0	–
	Other parties	24,679	1.24	0	–
Total		1,992,316	100.00	200	0
Valid votes		1,992,316	98.72
Invalid/blank votes		25,761	1.28
Total votes		2,018,077	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,549,429	56.86
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Turnout	Party		Votes	Seats won
Aargau	14	232,941	145,512		Social Democratic Party	474,648	3
					Christian Democratic People's Party	396,770	3
					Free Democratic Party	315,776	3
					Swiss People's Party	247,379	2
					Ring of Independents	187,426	2
					Republican Movement	115,305	1
					Evangelical People's Party	76,306	0
					National Action	68,260	0
					Team 67	51,975	0
					Free Eligible Voters and Non-Partisan Voters	36,972	0
					Free Voters for Education and Progress	8,243	0
					European Federalist Party	6,570	0
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	2	28,671	13,915		Free Democratic Party	15,924	1
					Social Democratic Party	9,521	1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1	7,624	2,386		Christian Democratic People's Party	2,217	1
Basel-Landschaft	7	114,565	59,320		Social Democratic Party	115,853	2
					Free Democratic Party	94,370	2
					Ring of Independents	56,704	1
					Swiss People's Party	48,314	1
					Christian Democratic People's Party	54,815	1
					National Action	41,095	0
Basel-Stadt	7	149,309	69,418		Social Democratic Party	146,745	2
					Free Democratic Party	55,327	1
					Liberal Party	62,533	1
					Ring of Independents	61,133	1
					Christian Democratic People's Party	54,238	1
					National Action	38,678	1
					Party of Labour	29,246	0
					Republican Movement	23,593	0
					Swiss Progressive Organisations	8,859	0
					Free Opposition Party	2,008	0
Bern	31	601,381	347,799		Social Democratic Party	3,272,395	10
					Swiss People's Party	3,086,851	10
					Free Democratic Party	1,819,024	5
					Ring of Independents	664,295	2
					Christian Democratic People's Party	566,163	1
					Evangelical People's Party	430,124	1
					National Action	388,872	1
					Republican Movement	221,004	1
					Independent Social-Christian Party	91,632	0
					Volkstümlich	4,736	0
Fribourg	6	104,385	55,827		Christian Democratic People's Party	136,147	3
					Free Democratic Party	81,018	2
					Social Democratic Party	65,253	1
					Swiss People's Party	28,460	0
					Independent Social-Christian Party	17,435	0
Geneva	11	173,910	81,670		Party of Labour	183,332	3
					Free Democratic Party	168,724	2
					Social Democratic Party	167,854	2
					Liberal Party	123,516	2
					Independent Social-Christian Party	120,939	2
					Ring of Independents	54,563	0
					Vigilance	47,504	0
					National Action	12,696	0
Glarus	1	22,016	13,582		Social Democratic Party	7,652	1
					Free Democratic Party	5,667	0
Grisons	5	89,842	50,960		Christian Democratic People's Party	93,234	2
					Swiss People's Party	85,146	2
					Free Democratic Party	37,034	1
					Social Democratic Party	34,801	0
Lucerne	9	165,445	109,655		Christian Democratic People's Party	473,336	5
					Free Democratic Party	290,905	3
					Social Democratic Party	120,390	1
					Ring of Independents	84,561	0
Neuchâtel	5	96,306	46,491		Social Democratic Party	68,715	2
					Free Democratic Party	54,661	2
					Liberal Party	35,858	1
					Party of Labour	30,778	0
					Republican Movement	22,672	0
					Progressive National Party	12,080	0
Nidwalden	1	14,794	7,596		Christian Democratic People's Party	6,425	1
Obwalden	1	14,371	7,721		Christian Democratic People's Party	7,547	1
Schaffhausen	2	40,982	32,257		Social Democratic Party	24,897	1
					Free Democratic Party	20,500	1
					Ring of Independents	7,548	0
					Christian Democratic People's Party	4,984	0
					National Action	3,983	0
Schwyz	3	50,787	22,844		Christian Democratic People's Party	24,758	1
					Social Democratic Party	18,652	1
					Free Democratic Party	13,124	1
					We Want to Vote	7,800	0
Solothurn	7	128,238	82,369		Free Democratic Party	194,154	3
					Christian Democratic People's Party	156,657	2
					Social Democratic Party	148,795	2
					Ring of Independents	40,527	0
					National Action	25,844	0
St. Gallen	12	211,565	131,082		Christian Democratic People's Party	679,985	6
					Free Democratic Party	364,356	3
					Social Democratic Party	225,490	2
					Ring of Independents	108,322	1
					Republican Movement	108,035	0
					Evangelical People's Party	46,530	0
					Swiss Progressive Organisations	6,552	0
					European Federalist Party	5,227	0
Ticino	8	133,771	81,114		Free Democratic Party	242,069	4
					Christian Democratic People's Party	219,389	3
					Social Democratic Party	82,930	1
					Autonomous Socialist Party	42,116	0
					Party of Labour	17,314	0
					Swiss People's Party	15,364	0
					Republican Movement	10,984	0
Thurgau	6	96,996	60,159		Swiss People's Party	92,097	2
					Christian Democratic People's Party	82,962	1
					Social Democratic Party	73,228	1
					Free Democratic Party	59,665	1
					Republican Movement	31,120	1
					National Action	14,999	0
Uri	1	19,694	11,039		Free Democratic Party	9,712	1
Vaud	16	288,668	132,382		Free Democratic Party	537,173	5
					Social Democratic Party	515,893	4
					Party of Labour	252,539	2
					Liberal Party	256,061	2
					Swiss People's Party	159,490	1
					Christian Democratic People's Party	108,558	1
					National Action	87,146	1
					Ring of Independents	85,011	0
					Republican Movement	60,816	0
Valais	7	119,854	80,589		Christian Democratic People's Party	341,294	5
					Free Democratic Party	106,853	1
					Social Democratic Party	85,778	1
					Social Independent Movement	20,380	0
Zug	2	Elected unopposed			Christian Democratic People's Party		1
					Free Democratic Party		1
Zürich	35	644,893	372,435		Social Democratic Party	2,688,278	8
					Free Democratic Party	2,158,558	6
					Ring of Independents	2,127,106	6
					Swiss People's Party	1,566,199	5
					Republican Movement	1,448,131	4
					Christian Democratic People's Party	1,228,888	3
					Evangelical People's Party	668,427	2
					National Action	637,912	1
					Party of Labour	205,984	0
					European Federalist Party	43,931	0
					Erwa-Bund	39,784	0
					Helvetic People's Movement Against Foreign Infiltration	32,288	0
					The Initiators	24,633	0
					Swiss People's Party	9,000	0
Source: Bundesblatt, 17 November 1971

Council of the States

Party		Seats	+/–
	Christian Democratic People's Party	17	–1
	Free Democratic Party	15	+1
	Swiss People's Party	5	–1
	Social Democratic Party	4	+2
	Liberal Democratic Union	2	–1
	Alliance of Independents	1	0
Total		44	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver