By Melanie Eichenberger, Emilie Ridard and Balz Rigendinger in Swiss Infos. Here is an extract:

Swiss politicians are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of the Swiss Abroad – they are potential voters whose ballots can be won. This is especially the case this year as Switzerland gears up to elect a new parliament in October. In theory, the Swiss Abroad could decide up to six of the 200 seats in the House of Representatives.

But there’s just one problem. Voter turnout among the diaspora tends to be low. There are 800,000 Swiss living abroad, but only a quarter of them are registered on the electoral rolls of their home cantons. And only 25% of them regularly make use of their right to vote.

Why do more Swiss Abroad not want to exercise their democratic rights? And why is voter turnout so low, even among those Swiss Abroad who are registered to vote?

Read the full article here.