Candidate Voting in PR Elections: Evidence from Switzerland

Abstract:     
In this paper we look at individual and contextual influences on the degree of candidate voting in the Switzerland. The Swiss open ballot PR system allows voters to choose either to cast a party ballot without any changes or voters can also give preference votes to one or several candidates from the same or even from different parties. If they only cast a party ballot they don’t influence the order of the list and who finally gets elected in parliament. There are substantial differences who uses this right at both an individual and contextual level. Voters interest in politics and knowledgable about politics as well as voters with high incomes have a higher likelihood to change a ballot than uninterested Those differences reveal unequal influences of voters who finally gets elected.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 19

Keywords: open ballot systems, preference voting, panachage, Switzerland

working papers series