Five referendums were held in Switzerland in 1891. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1904 The first was held on 15 March on a federal law on federal officials who had become unemployable due to disability, and was rejected by 79.4% of voters. The second was held on 5 July on a constitutional amendment, and was approved by 60.3% of voters. Two referendums were held on 18 October, one on revising article 39 of the federal constitution and one on a federal law on Swiss tariffs; both were approved. The last was held on 6 December on the question of whether the federal government should purchase the Swiss Central Railway, but was rejected by 68.9% of voters.

Background

The two constitutional referendums were

mandatory referendum A mandatory referendum, also known as an obligatory referendum, is a referendum that is legally required to be held under specific circumstances. This is in contrast to an optional referendum, which comes from either by public or legislative ...

s, which required both a majority of voters and cantons.Nohlen & Stöver, p1891 The other three were

optional referendum The optional referendum is a referendum which comes from a request by governmental authorities or the public. The best known types of optional referendums is the popular initiative to request a law, and the popular (or abrogative) referendum t ...

s, which meant that only a majority of the public vote was required for the proposals to be approved.

Results

Federal officials law

Constitutional amendment (July)

Constitutional amendment (October)

Tariffs

Central railway purchase

References

{{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland 1891 referendums 1891 in Switzerland Referendums in Switzerland