{"id":19697,"date":"2026-02-26T10:09:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/19697\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T10:09:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:09:14","slug":"the-final-stretch-before-the-march-8-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/19697\/","title":{"rendered":"The final stretch before the March 8 vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        Dear Swiss Abroad,  <\/p>\n<p>The first \u201cvoting Sunday\u201d of the year is approaching \u2013 and it promises to be an exciting one. <\/p>\n<p>Several questions remain wide open. Opposition to the SBC initiative has grown slightly: 54% of voters say they would reject the proposal, which seeks a reduction in the radio and TV licence fee from CHF335 ($435) to CHF200 per year and per household, according to the second nationwide survey published on February 25 (see below). The initiative\u2019s strongest backing comes from supporters of the Swiss People\u2019s Party, while the \u201cno\u201d camp has been steadily gaining ground across almost all demographic groups. <\/p>\n<p>Despite this trend, the gfs.bern research institute remains cautious. \u201cMany indicators suggest that the SBC initiative will be rejected, but we cannot guarantee it,\u201d says political scientist Martina Mousson. <\/p>\n<p>The initiative on individual taxation for married couples is proving even more suspenseful. After an early lead, support has slipped throughout the campaign. Today, only 52% of respondents say they would vote in favour of the proposal &#8211; a level that may not be sufficient to secure approval at the ballot box. <\/p>\n<p>The situation appears clearer for the remaining two issues being decided on March 8: the counter-proposal to the &#8220;Cash is freedom&#8221; initiative is likely to pass, while the climate fund initiative has virtually no chance of securing a majority. Get ready for a tense voting Sunday by consulting the latest polls, revisiting our explainer articles, or watching our recorded debate.<\/p>\n<p>Happy reading,\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>    <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/624057315_highres.jpg\" width=\"1300\" height=\"867\" alt=\"Individual taxation in Switzerland for non-residents\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        More    <\/p>\n<p>        Swiss Politics\n        <\/p>\n<p>        Most Swiss Abroad are already familiar with individual taxation\u00a0\u00a0    <\/p>\n<p class=\"teaser-wide-card__excerpt\">\n<p>                        This content was published on                    <\/p>\n<p>                        Feb 24, 2026                    <\/p>\n<p>                On March 8, Swiss voters will decide whether to replace the current system of joint taxation of married couples with individual taxation, an\u00a0approach already familiar to most Swiss living abroad.\u00a0            <\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"teaser-wide-card__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swissinfo.ch\/eng\/swiss-politics\/most-swiss-abroad-are-already-familiar-with-individual-taxation\/90982296\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>            Read more: Most Swiss Abroad are already familiar with individual taxation\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\n    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>        More    <\/p>\n<p>            How are married couples taxed in your country of residence? What are the pros and cons of this system?        <\/p>\n<p class=\"teaser-wide-debate-card__text\">\n<p>                On March 8, the Swiss will vote on the introduction of individual taxation for married couples. We\u2019d like to know what the system is like where you live.\n        <\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"teaser-wide-debate-card__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swissinfo.ch\/eng\/swiss-abroad\/how-are-married-couples-taxed-in-your-country-of-residence-what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-this-system\/90760418\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>             View the discussion<br \/>\n    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/camille5.jpg\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1920\" alt=\"Camille K\u00fcndig\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        More    <\/p>\n<p>        Moving abroad\n        <\/p>\n<p>        How to vote from abroad as a Swiss citizen    <\/p>\n<p class=\"teaser-wide-card__excerpt\">\n<p>                        This content was published on                    <\/p>\n<p>                        Jun 25, 2025                    <\/p>\n<p>                Living outside Switzerland doesn\u2019t mean losing your right to vote. Yet only a small percentage of Swiss citizens living abroad actually cast their ballots. Here\u2019s a short guide on how to vote from abroad.            <\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"teaser-wide-card__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swissinfo.ch\/eng\/moving-abroad\/how-to-vote-from-abroad-as-a-swiss-citizen\/89576731\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>            Read more: How to vote from abroad as a Swiss citizen<br \/>\n    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/inscription-au-registre-C3A9lectoral-data-48395412.jpg\" width=\"1363\" height=\"1022\" alt=\"vote\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        More    <\/p>\n<p>        Moving abroad\n        <\/p>\n<p>        Voting from abroad: How to register for Swiss elections    <\/p>\n<p class=\"teaser-wide-card__excerpt\">\n<p>                        This content was published on                    <\/p>\n<p>                        Oct 16, 2024                    <\/p>\n<p>                Switzerland grants voting rights to its citizens living abroad. If you want to exercise your voting rights, you must first get on the electoral register.            <\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"teaser-wide-card__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swissinfo.ch\/eng\/moving-abroad\/voting-from-abroad-how-to-register-for-swiss-elections\/88021303\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>            Read more: Voting from abroad: How to register for Swiss elections<br \/>\n    <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dear Swiss Abroad, The first \u201cvoting Sunday\u201d of the year is approaching \u2013 and it promises to be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[326,7190,1456,334,41,17,329],"class_list":{"0":"post-19697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-switzerland","8":"tag-beat-swiss-politics","9":"tag-newsletter","10":"tag-politics-general","11":"tag-production-type-adaptation","12":"tag-swiss","13":"tag-switzerland","14":"tag-votes"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}