1939 Swiss federal election

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 29 October 1939.^[1] The Free Democratic Party emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 49 of the 187 seats.^[2] Due to the outbreak of World War II, there were no elections in nine of the 25 cantons; Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Schwyz, Solothurn, Ticino, Valais, Vaud and Zug.^[3] In what became known as "silent elections", a total of 55 candidates were elected unopposed.^[3]

Results

National Council

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	160,377	25.93	45	–5
	Free Democratic Party	128,163	20.72	49	+1
	Conservative People's Party	105,018	16.98	43	+1
	Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	91,182	14.74	22	+1
	Alliance of Independents	43,735	7.07	9	+2
	Young Farmers	27,708	4.48	3	–1
	Social-Political Group	16,891	2.73	5	+2
	Communist Party	15,962	2.58	4	+2
	Liberal Socialist Party	10,865	1.76	1	+1
	Liberal Democratic Party	10,241	1.66	6	0
	Evangelical People's Party	5,726	0.93	0	–1
	Other parties	2,665	0.43	0	0
Total		618,533	100.00	187	0
Valid votes		618,533	96.67
Invalid/blank votes		21,332	3.33
Total votes		639,865	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		861,266	74.29
Source: Mackie & Rose,[4] Nohlen & Stöver

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Turnout	Party		Votes	Seats won
Aargau	12	75,509	67,271		Social Democratic Party	258,919	5
					Conservative People's Party	168,606	3
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	113,270	2
					Free Democratic Party	125,232	2
					Young Farmers	41,663	0
					Ring of Independents	34,097	0
					Evangelical People's Party	27,075	0
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	2	Elected unopposed			Social Democratic Party		1
					Free Democratic Party		1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1	3,501	2,153		Conservative People's Party	1,640	1
Basel-Landschaft	4	28,207	17,788		Social Democratic Party	18,841	1
					Free Democratic Party	16,448	1
					Liberal Socialist Party	11,522	1
					Basel Farmers' Party, Free Democrats and Independents	8,864	1
					Conservative People's Party	8,767	1
					Young Farmers	2,788	0
					Communist Party	1,617	0
					Action Committee for Breaking the Interest Bondage	259	0
Basel-Stadt	7	51,833	35,833		Social Democratic Party	81,452	2
					Ring of Independents	34,711	2
					Liberal Democratic Party	34,202	1
					Free Democratic Party	32,087	1
					Conservative People's Party	25,373	1
					Communist Party	22,784	0
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	14,869	0
Bern	31	209,052	148,467		Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	1,421,518	10
					Social Democratic Party	1,351,567	10
					Free Democratic Party	674,258	5
					Young Farmers	458,062	3
					Conservative People's Party	267,642	2
					Ring of Independents	169,046	1
					Liberal Socialist Party	123,477	0
					Communist Party	24,891	0
Fribourg	7	40,945	28,485		Conservative People's Party	118,997	5
					Free Democratic Party	51,815	2
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	24,003	0
Geneva	8	50,172	31,849		Social Democratic Party	90,591	3
					Free Democratic Party	81,438	3
					Liberal Democratic Party	42,836	1
					Conservative People's Party	34,276	1
Glarus	2	10,148	7,828		Social-Political Group	6,495	1
					Social Democratic Party	4,496	1
					Free Democratic Party	4,242	0
Grisons	6	37,409	28,325		Social-Political Group	64,095	3
					Conservative People's Party	56,059	2
					Free Democratic Party	28,669	1
					Social Democratic Party	15,939	0
Lucerne	9	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		5
					Free Democratic Party		3
					Social Democratic Party		1
Neuchâtel	6	Elected unopposed			Social Democratic Party		3
					Free Democratic Party		2
					Liberal Democratic Party		1
Nidwalden	1	4,463	3,180		Conservative People's Party	1,430	1
Obwalden	1	5,461	2,275		Conservative People's Party	1,535	1
Schaffhausen	2	15,692	13,896		Social Democratic Party	11,620	1
					Free Democratic Party	9,271	1
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	5,502	0
Schwyz	3	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		2
					Free Democratic Party		1
Solothurn	7	Elected unopposed			Free Democratic Party		3
					Social Democratic Party		2
					Conservative People's Party		2
St. Gallen	13	77,171	64,614		Conservative People's Party	317,244	6
					Free Democratic Party	213,143	4
					Social Democratic Party	128,964	2
					Ring of Independents	59,579	1
					Association of Free Democrats	38,509	0
					Young Farmers	35,309	0
Ticino	7	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		3
					Free Democratic Party		2
					Social-Political Group		1
					Social Democratic Party		1
Thurgau	6	39,298	31,485		Social Democratic Party	49,323	2
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	42,542	2
					Conservative People's Party	36,987	1
					Free Democratic Party	36,796	1
					Young Farmers	13,991	0
Uri	1	6,979	4,091		Free Democratic Party	3,448	1
Vaud	15	Elected unopposed			Free Democratic Party		6
					Social Democratic Party		4
					Liberal Democratic Party		3
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents		2
Valais	6	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		4
					Free Democratic Party		1
					Social Democratic Party		1
Zug	2	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		1
					Free Democratic Party		1
Zürich	28	205,426	152,325		Social Democratic Party	1,306,638	10
					Ring of Independents	724,715	5
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	574,284	5
					Free Democratic Party	517,470	4
					Social-Political Group	338,508	2
					Conservative People's Party	287,214	2
					Liberal Socialist Party	111,943	0
					Young Farmers	104,068	0
					Communist Party	98,114	0
					Evangelical People's Party	97,178	0
Source: Bundesblatt, 29 November 1939

Council of the States

In several cantons the members of the Council of the States were chosen by the cantonal parliaments.^[5]

Party		Seats	+/–
	Swiss Conservative People's Party	18	–1
	Free Democratic Party	14	–1
	Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	4	+1
	Social Democratic Party	3	0
	Liberal Democratic Party	2	0
	Social-Political Group	0	0
	Other parties	3	+1
Total		44	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1895 ISBN 9783832956097
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1953
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p1948
4. Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan
5. Nohlen & Stöver, p1956