On 3 March 2024, the people of Valais were asked to rule on a total revision of their cantonal Constitution. The founding text in force dates from 1907: more than a century later, a 130-member Constituent Assembly, elected in 2019, worked for nearly five years to propose a modernised charter — social and environmental rights, transparency, and one especially contested point: municipal-level voting and eligibility rights for settled foreigners.
The question of foreigners' civic rights crystallised so much tension within the assembly that no decision could be reached. Voters were therefore presented with two variants: one including this right for holders of a settlement permit resident in Valais for at least a year, the other without. An unusual device that blurred the message and fed the charge of a "catch-all" project.
Beyond content, the vote reopened the most sensitive fault line of the bilingual canton: German-speaking Upper Valais felt disadvantaged by the reform, while part of French-speaking Valais felt the linguistic minority was already well protected. On 3 March 2024 both variants were heavily rejected and the 1907 Constitution was kept.
▼ Result — REJECTED Variant WITH foreigners' voting rights rejected by 68.13 %; variant WITHOUT by 57.04 %. Turnout 61.49 %. No region accepted the project. | Geography of the vote Heavy rejection in Upper Valais (nearly 85 % no to the project), sharper than in central Valais (62.9 %) and Lower Valais (60.9 %). The language divide shaped the result. |
Actors and figures
▲ Yes camp (for the new Constitution) • Socialist Party of French-speaking Valais • FDP/PLR Valais • Valais Greens • Appel Citoyen movement • Majority of the Constituent Assembly | ▼ No camp • SVP/UDC of French-speaking Valais • SVPO — SVP Upper Valais • Liberals of Upper Valais • The Centre Upper Valais (CVPO) • Business circles (Valais Chamber of Commerce) |
Arguments and verdicts — 2 years on
▲ Arguments FOR (Assembly / SP / FDP / Greens) The 1907 text is outdated; without revision Valais will stay stuck on a charter unsuited to the 21st century. ~ Partly confirmed Two years on, modernisation has not happened and Valais remains on its 1907 Constitution. But no institutional paralysis has occurred: the canton keeps functioning, which qualifies the notion of a "blockage". A new Constitution would ease tensions between Upper and Lower Valais and strengthen cantonal cohesion. ✗ Refuted The process produced the opposite effect: the vote exposed a gaping language divide, with Upper Valais rejecting the text by nearly 85 %. Far from soothing, the reform crystallised the mistrust between the two regions. | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (SVP / Centre Upper Valais / business) The project is an illegible "catch-all"; better to keep the 1907 Constitution, which works. « A compromise for some, a catch-all for others. » — Summary of the debate, RTS Valais, 2024 ✓ Confirmed On strictly institutional grounds the prediction holds: two years after the no, the canton functions without a new Constitution and no crisis has arisen. The 1907 status quo proved sustainable. If rejected, the cantonal parliament could still take up the good provisions and "go shopping". ✗ Refuted That escape hatch did not open: in 2024 the Valais parliament ruled out a mere "tidy-up" of the Constitution. The assembly's five years of work were lost, with no partial revival. |
Factual assessment · 2 years on (2026)
1 Confirmed | 1 Partly confirmed | 0 Partly refuted | 2 Refuted |
| ✓ | Two years after the no, the canton still functions under the 1907 Constitution; keeping the status quo produced no institutional crisis. Source: RTS Valais / Canton of Valais, 2024-2026 |
| ! | The Constituent Assembly, elected in 2019, was dissolved in April 2024: nearly five years of work were lost. Source: RTS Valais, April 2024 |
| ! | Appeals against the result were ruled inadmissible by the Justice Commission, the cantonal parliament and then the Federal Supreme Court. The rejection is final. Source: Le Nouvelliste / Federal Supreme Court, 2024 |
| ~ | The cantonal parliament refused a mere "tidy-up" of the Constitution: modernising the 1907 text is, for now, at a standstill. Source: RTS Valais, 2024 |
Two years after 3 March 2024, the factual verdict vindicates the No camp on the institutional core — while stripping it of any illusion about what followed.
The opponents were right on one central point: the 1907 Constitution could keep working. Two years later the canton runs without a new charter, without crisis or blockage. The "obsolete, paralysing text" argument brandished by supporters did not bear out in fact.
But the No was also wrong about its fallback promise: the idea that one could "go shopping" in the rejected project and take up the good provisions collapsed. Parliament ruled out any tidy-up, and five years of constituent work went into the bin. The status quo won outright — modernisation included, or rather not included.
The big loser is less a camp than a method. By submitting two variants and stumbling over foreigners' voting rights, the assembly handed the No an open road. And the vote confirmed what the reform claimed to cure: the rift between a defensive Upper Valais and a Lower Valais that underestimated the malaise. The 1907 text has many fine days ahead.