On 4 September 2011, voters in the canton of Vaud rejected, with 68.96% voting No, the popular initiative "Vivre et voter ici" ("Live here, vote here"), which sought to grant cantonal-level voting rights and eligibility for office to foreign nationals who had lived in Switzerland for ten years and resided in Vaud for three. Turnout was 40.34%.
The canton was nonetheless a pioneer: its 2003 Constitution had introduced foreigners' voting rights and eligibility at municipal level, exercised since 2004. The initiative was launched in autumn 2009 by the Vaud Greens around MP Raphaël Mahaim, after the cantonal parliament had refused by a single vote (67 to 66) to introduce these rights through legislation; more than 14,000 signatures were collected in four months. Around 85,000 foreign residents of the canton were concerned.
Fifteen years on, this review confronts the Yes camp's promises and the No camp's predictions with the facts observed since: actual turnout among foreign voters, later attempts to extend political rights, and more recent popular votes.
Overall result No 68.96% — Yes 31.04%. Turnout 40.34%. Initiative rejected: cantonal voting rights and eligibility remain reserved for Swiss citizens. | Vote map A clear rejection across the canton, with no district approving the text. Municipal details are not reproduced here. |
Actors and key figures
▲ Yes camp • Vaud Greens (Raphaël Mahaim, MP and initiator) • Vaud Socialist Party • Trade unions and migrant associations (backers of the signature drive) • "Vivre et voter ici" committee | ▼ No camp • SVP Vaud • Vaud Liberal Party (State Councillor Philippe Leuba, opposed to the text) • Vaud Radical Party • Conservative circles |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) Voting where one lives and pays taxes « Tens of thousands of people have lived here for decades without any say in cantonal affairs: a democratic injustice. » — Initiative committee, 2011 campaign ✗~ Partially disproved The argument of principle remains debated, but its implicit premise — strong demand for participation — did not materialise: in municipal elections, open to foreigners since 2004, turnout among foreign voters reached only 25.6% in 2016 and 24.4% in 2021, against 62% and 56.5% for Swiss voters. Source: Statistique Vaud; info.vd.ch Cantonal extension as the logical next step after 2003 « After the constitutional assembly's municipal step, the cantonal level is the natural continuation. » — Raphaël Mahaim, initiator (Greens) ✗ Argument disproved The "natural continuation" never came: cantonal voting rights remain closed to foreigners in Vaud. On 28 September 2025, Vaud voters even rejected, with 56.1% voting No, a mere easing of the existing municipal right (residence requirement cut from ten to five years), despite backing from the government and parliament. Source: Le Temps; RTS; Canton of Vaud, 2025 | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) Naturalisation as the gateway to political rights « There is a natural link between political rights and citizenship: whoever wants to vote at cantonal level can apply for naturalisation. » — Opponents' campaign material, 2011 ✓ Argument confirmed This line has been consistently reaffirmed by Vaud voters: the 2011 rejection, then another No in 2025 to a mere municipal easing. On election night, State Councillor Philippe Leuba observed that two-thirds of Vaud voters were not prepared to decouple cantonal political rights from acquiring citizenship. Source: swissinfo.ch; Le Temps A demand more militant than popular « Foreign residents themselves are not massively demanding this right. » — Right-wing opponents, 2011 campaign ✓~ Partially confirmed Low foreign-voter turnout in municipal ballots — about a quarter of the eligible electorate, half the Swiss rate — and the scarcity of foreign candidacies partially support this argument. The collection of over 14,000 signatures in four months nevertheless showed genuine mobilisation among part of the population. Source: Statistique Vaud; Le Nouvelliste |
Factual record
1 Confirmed | 1 Partially confirmed | 1 Partially disproved | 1 Disproved |
| ✓ | The citizenship lock still holds Since 2011, no extension of foreigners' cantonal political rights has succeeded in Vaud. Voters confirmed the status quo right up to the September 2025 refusal to ease the conditions of the municipal right alone. |
| ~ | Lukewarm municipal participation Where they have been able to vote since 2004, foreign electors turn out at about half the Swiss rate (25.6% in 2016, 24.4% in 2021, per Statistique Vaud) — tempering both the Yes camp's promised democratic surge and the No camp's fears of upheaval. |
| ! | A recurring, never-settled debate The question keeps returning to parliament and the ballot box. The left-right divide of 2011 was practically unchanged in the 2025 vote — a durably deadlocked issue. |
The 2011 verdict durably fixed Vaud doctrine: foreigners' participation stops at the municipal gate. Fifteen years on, nothing has moved — neither through parliament nor at the ballot box. The 2025 refusal of a mere easing of the municipal right confirms that the electorate has not changed its mind on the substance.
The facts partially vindicate the sceptics: where foreign voters can vote, they turn out at half the Swiss rate, and candidacies remain rare. The promised surge of democratic integration has not materialised in participation figures.
Yet the Yes camp's central argument — the gap between tax contribution and political exclusion for tens of thousands of long-term residents — remains intact, and Neuchâtel and Jura show that another institutional choice is possible in Switzerland. The file is less closed than frozen.
On balance, the No camp emerges vindicated by the observable facts: the link between citizenship and cantonal political rights, reaffirmed in 2011, has outlived every subsequent attempt.