Nine referendums were held in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

during 1996. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1938 The first five were held on 10 March on revising article 116 of the

Swiss Federal Constitution The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; german: Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (BV); french: Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse (Cst.); it, Costituzione federale della Confederaz ...

regarding language, abolishing the cantons' responsibilities for providing army equipment, abolishing the federal requirement to purchase distilling equipment, abolishing federal financing of parking areas at rail stations, and whether municipality of

Vellerat Vellerat () is a former municipality in the district of Delémont in the canton of Jura in Switzerland. On 1 January 2019 the former municipalities of Rebeuvelier and Vellerat merged into the municipality of Courrendlin. History Vellerat is f ...

(then part of the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

) should become part of the

canton of Jura The Republic and Canton of Jura (french: République et canton du Jura), less formally the Canton of Jura or Canton Jura ( , ), is the newest (founded in 1979) of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. The capita ...

. All proposals except the one regarding army equipment were approved. The next two referendums were held on 9 June on a law on governmental and administrative organisation and a counter-proposal to the

popular initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...

"peasants and consumers–for a nature-oriented farming". The counter-proposal was approved, whilst the new law was rejected. The final two referendums were held on 1 December on a popular initiative "against

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

" and an amendment to the federal law on labour in trade and industry. Both were rejected by voters.

Results

References

{{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland 1996 elections in Switzerland 1996 referendums Referendums in Switzerland