On 22 September 2002, Vaud voters accepted the new cantonal Constitution with 55.9% in favour. Drafted by a Constituent Assembly elected in 1999, the text replaced the 1885 Constitution and formally entered into force on 14 April 2003. Turnout stood at 44.36%.
The product of three years' work by a 180-member assembly, the new charter cut the Grand Council from 180 to 150 seats, extended terms to five years, created a Constitutional Court and a Court of Audit, introduced municipal federations, reduced the number of districts, and enshrined new social rights (maternity insurance, family allowances, day-care) as well as voting and eligibility rights for foreign residents at the municipal level.
More than twenty years after it took effect, this briefing tests the drafters' promises and the opponents' fears against the institutional facts observed in the canton since 2003.
Overall result Yes 55.9% — No 44.1%. Turnout 44.36%. Accepted; in force since 14 April 2003, replacing the 1885 Constitution. | Vote map Carried by the Lausanne agglomeration and urban centres; stronger opposition in some rural, conservative regions. A district-by-district breakdown is not reproduced here. |
Actors and figures
▲ Yes camp • Vaud Constituent Assembly (drafter of the text, adopted in plenary on 17 May 2002 by 135 votes to 16) • Vaud Socialist Party (support) • Vaud Greens (support) • A large part of the centre and civil society (support) | ▼ No camp • SVP/UDC Vaud (opposed, notably to foreign residents’ voting rights) • Vaud Liberal Party (opposed, on the same grounds) • Conservative circles |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) A modernised charter replacing an 1885 text « Vaud needs a readable Constitution fit for its time. » — Drafters' argument, 2002 ✓ Argument confirmed The 2003 Constitution is still in force more than twenty years on, with no total revision and no implementation crisis. The 20-year review (2023) judges it sound. Source: 24 heures « the new Constitution holds up »; vd.ch, 20 years of the Constitution New social rights and an expanded democracy ✓ Argument confirmed Cantonal maternity insurance, family allowances, out-of-school care and municipal voting rights for foreigners were all implemented and anchored in Vaud law. Source: Cst-VD; vd.ch Unprecedented oversight institutions « A Court of Audit will guarantee independent scrutiny of public action. » — Drafters, 2002 ✓ Argument confirmed The Vaud Court of Audit is the first of its kind anchored in a Swiss constitution; it has been operational since 2008. A Constitutional Court was also created. Source: vd.ch/cdc | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) Foreigners' voting rights will distort citizenship « Granting the vote to foreigners means selling off the democratic rights of citizens. » — SVP/UDC Vaud argument ✗~ Partly refuted Municipal voting rights for foreigners came into force and became routine without institutional upheaval; repeal attempts failed. Extending them to the cantonal level, however, has been rejected repeatedly, again in November 2025 — a lasting ceiling, but one that does not affect the municipal level the Constitution intended. Source: RTS; 20 minutes (cantonal vote November 2025) A text too long, too ambitious and too costly ✗~ Partly refuted The 180 articles did not produce the feared ungovernability: the charter held for over twenty years, with few major revisions and no extra costs identified as problematic. Source: 24 heures, 20-year review |
Factual assessment
3 Confirmed | 0 Partly confirmed | 2 Partly refuted | 0 Refuted |
| ✓ | A durable Constitution More than twenty years after taking effect, the 2003 charter is still in place and authoritative; the official 20-year review (2023) is broadly positive. |
| ✓ | A pioneering Court of Audit The first institution of its kind anchored in a Swiss constitution, the Vaud Court of Audit has operated since 2008 and normalised independent scrutiny of public action. |
| ~ | Foreigners' vote: municipal yes, cantonal no Municipal voting rights for foreigners have become firmly established, but extending them to the cantonal level remains rejected by voters, again in 2025. |
| ✓ | Municipal mergers encouraged The incentive framework set by the Constitution bore fruit: since 2003, over a hundred municipalities have merged across several dozen projects. |
More than twenty years on, the balance sheet tilts clearly in favour of the drafters. The new charter held, and its institutional innovations — Court of Audit, Constitutional Court, municipal federations — entered the Vaud landscape without triggering the feared malfunctions. The promised social rights were delivered.
The only genuinely contested point, foreigners' voting rights, illustrates a lasting frontier of Vaud democracy: accepted and normalised at the municipal level, it runs aground systematically at the cantonal level, rejected repeatedly through 2025. Fears of a « distortion » of citizenship did not materialise where the Constitution opened the door, but the electorate confirmed it intends to stop at the municipal level.