Swiss voters prepare to decide on neutrality and food security

Swiss voters will settle two national initiatives on Sunday, 27 September, with both proposals trailing clearly in the final published polling. The ballots will test attitudes toward Switzerland’s role in a more unsettled international environment and toward the country’s ability to produce healthy food at home.

The second gfs.bern poll for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation put opposition to the neutrality initiative at 63%, compared with 34% support. The food security proposal performed similarly, with 64% opposed and 33% in favour. Both measures have lost ground since the first survey conducted in early August.

The votes carry significance beyond their likely result. Switzerland’s system of direct democracy gives citizens the final say on constitutional changes, while campaigns often expose differences between language regions, political parties, age groups and urban and rural communities.

The neutrality proposal comes from Pro Suisse and seeks to write the principle of permanent and armed neutrality into the constitution. The food initiative would encourage more plant based production to strengthen domestic self sufficiency. Voters must now decide whether either approach should become national policy.

The neutrality initiative would place “permanent and armed” neutrality directly in the Swiss constitution. Pro Suisse launched the proposal to reinforce a principle that has long shaped the country’s identity and foreign policy.

The proposal has found its strongest backing among Swiss People’s Party, or UDC/SVP, voters. About 77% of UDC/SVP supporters intended to vote yes in the second poll, although that figure fell by nine percentage points from the first survey. The party was the only major political force to support the initiative.

Voters aligned with other major parties largely followed their organisations’ opposition. Among Green Liberal voters, 96% intended to reject the measure. More than three quarters of supporters of the Greens, Social Democrats, Liberals and Centre also planned to vote no, according to the poll.

Independent voters shifted sharply during the campaign. A majority had supported the initiative one month earlier, but 59% now opposed it. Gfs.bern said a reversal would require both unusually strong mobilisation among UDC/SVP voters and a substantial change among other groups, with little evidence of either development.

The neutrality vote shows a clear linguistic divide in intensity, though opposition leads in every major language region. In German speaking Switzerland, 64% of respondents planned to vote no, seven points higher than in the first poll. French speaking Switzerland recorded 63% opposition, a rise of 14 points.

Italian speaking Switzerland remained the closest contest. Support stood at 48%, while 47% opposed the proposal. The narrow split contrasts with the wider margins recorded north and west of the Gotthard.

The opposition also cuts across social categories. The poll found majorities against the initiative among voters of different ages, income groups, educational backgrounds and residential areas. Even among people with lower levels of education, who had previously been more sympathetic, 54% intended to reject it.

Those figures point to a broad campaign setback rather than a single regional or demographic reaction. The initiative has not secured a majority outside its strongest partisan base, and support among that base has weakened. The final result will show whether late mobilisation can narrow the gap, particularly in cantons where neutrality remains closely tied to national identity.

The food security initiative has lost support across the country, despite broad sympathy for healthier diets and stronger domestic production. Its proposal would promote plant based food production to increase Switzerland’s level of food self sufficiency. Parliament rejected it unanimously, while left wing parties and the Green Liberals supported a counter proposal that did not pass.

The Greens remain the initiative’s strongest constituency, with more than three quarters of their voters intending to vote yes. Support among Socialist voters, however, fell by 15 percentage points to below 50%. Green Liberal voters also moved into the opposition camp, with 52% now rejecting the measure.

The shift crossed language borders. Support fell by 19 points in French speaking Switzerland and 16 points in Italian speaking Switzerland from the first survey. German speaking Switzerland recorded the highest opposition, at 66%.

The campaign’s difficulty appears linked to the policy mechanism rather than its stated objectives. As voters examined how the initiative would affect production and food choices, many became less willing to endorse the constitutional proposal. Rural areas opposed it from the outset, while cities and suburbs later moved against it.

Young voters and women have moved decisively against the food initiative as the 27 September vote approaches. Among voters aged 18 to 39, 58% now intended to reject the proposal, an increase of 18 points from the first poll. Opposition among women reached 59%.

The movement leaves the initiative without a clear demographic path to victory. Rural voters were already hostile, while urban and suburban respondents joined them during the campaign. Independents also shifted, with opposition rising 13 points to 60%.

For Switzerland, the result will clarify how voters view constitutional instructions on food production. A rejection would leave the federal government and Parliament to address food resilience through legislation, agricultural policy and market measures rather than through the proposed constitutional text.

The neutrality vote carries a different institutional signal. Its defeat would preserve the existing constitutional framework while leaving Switzerland’s international positioning open to decisions by elected institutions. Its approval would impose a more explicit constitutional definition of neutrality and armed non alignment.

Polling remains a snapshot, not a result. Ballots and turnout will determine the outcome on Sunday, with Italian speaking Switzerland offering the closest contest on neutrality and the final mobilisation of UDC/SVP supporters likely to matter most for the proposal’s remaining chances.