7. The National Council chooses from among its members, for each regular or extraordinary session, a President and a Vice-President. A member who has held the office of President during the regular session is not eligible either for President or Vice-President of the next regular session. The same member may not be Vice-President for two consecutive regular sessions. The President shall have the casting vote in case of a tie; in elections, he votes in the same manner as any other member.
8. The members of the National Council receive a compensation from the federal treasury.
The qualification of the elector, as above described, is that of being in the enjoyment of the “active right of citizenship,”—i.e., not excluded from the rights of a voter by the legislation of his Canton. This also applies to those who have been deprived of their civic rights by virtue of the penal law, and in consequence of a judicial sentence; and in some Cantons embraces insolvents and paupers. The limitation of eligibility to “lay” Swiss citizens does not necessarily exclude ecclesiastics, as illustrated in a recent case of a Bernese clergyman, who, being chosen a member of the National Council, simply laid aside temporarily, by resignation, his clerical robes; should he fail any time of re-election he may return to the pulpit. Naturalized citizens are not eligible until five years after they have become citizens. The provision forbidding a member to hold the office of President for two consecutive ordinary sessions makes it possible, during the life of a National Council, for one-fourth of the Cantons (even counting the half-Cantons) to be honored with this officer; and certainly gives but little opportunity for the building up of a one-man power, just this side of absolute. The power of the presiding officer of the National Council is too insignificant to justify any parallel with that of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A federal law regulates in a uniform manner, and by ballot, the election for members of the National Council; the execution of the law is entirely under the direction of the Canton, and in immaterial details there is a great diversity. There are registers in each Commune, in which every citizen having a vote must be inscribed. These registers are open two weeks before the day of the election, and close three days previous to it. In some Cantons, a card from the Commune where the voter is registered is left at his house; in others, he must present himself at the proper office and obtain his card. The election takes place on the last Sunday in October triennially. The polls generally are in the churches, and no one is permitted to enter except upon the presentation of the requisite proof as to his right to vote. Candidates must be elected by an absolute majority of the votes cast. Should there be a failure of election, a second ballot under the same conditions is had the following Sunday. If a third ballot becomes necessary, the election is again repeated the next Sunday, when the scrutin de liste is restricted to a number not exceeding three times the number of members to be chosen; and these must be taken in order from those receiving the largest vote in the previous tours de scrutin. In this final trial the candidate or candidates, as the case may be, having a plurality are elected. The members are elected on a general ticket,—that is, “at large” for the district, not for the Canton. These districts are called arrondissements, and the method of voting is known as scrutin d’arrondissement.
The National Council at present consists of one hundred and forty-five members, apportioned among forty-nine electoral districts. The number returned from these districts varies from one to five members each. The Cantons of Uri and Zug, and the half-Cantons of Obwald, Nidwald, and Inner-Rhoden compose only one district each. Bern has six districts and twenty-seven members; Zurich, four districts and sixteen members. Every elector is entitled to vote for as many members as his district is entitled to, but not cumulatively. A federal census for the apportionment of representation is taken every ten years. Members receive a compensation of twenty francs per day (about $3⁸⁶⁄₁₀₀) when the National Council is in session,[31] and a travelling allowance of twenty centimes per kilometre (a fraction under .03 per mile). A member loses his per diem if he does not answer the roll-call at the opening of the day’s session, unless he should appear later and give to the secretary a sufficient excuse for his dilatoriness. If subsequently, during that day’s session, there is a vote by roll-call (appel nominal), or if there is a count of the House to ascertain the presence of a quorum, the compensation of the members whose absence is disclosed is forfeited for that day. This law is not a “dead letter,” but is strictly enforced, and with a frugal-minded people tends to keep the members in their seats.
The Council of States (Ständerath; Conseil des États).
The space devoted to the Council of States in the Constitution is one-half of that given to the National Council, and is comprised within four articles:
1. The Council of States consists of forty-four representatives of the Cantons. Each Canton elects two representatives, and in the divided Cantons, each half-Canton elects one.
2. No member of the National Council or of the Federal Council may be at the same time a member of the Council of States.
3. The Council of States elects from among its members a President and Vice-President for each regular and extraordinary session. From among the representatives of that Canton from which a President has been elected for a regular session, neither the President nor Vice-President can be taken for the next following regular session. Representatives of the same Canton cannot occupy the position of Vice-President during two consecutive regular sessions. When the votes are equally divided, the President has a casting vote; in elections, he votes in the same manner as the other members.
4. Members of the Council of States receive compensation from their respective Cantons.