Voting on Sunday on Organ donation, Film law and Frontex

Swiss voters decided on three main national issues on Sunday. The Frontex expansion proposed to increase Switzerland’s contribution to the European Frontex border agency, while the Film law, also known as the Lex Netflix, proposed that International online entertainment platforms, such as streaming companies like Netflix, should have to make a mandatory investment in the Swiss film industry. The third item was the Transplantation law, which proposed changing explicit donor consent to presumed donor consent to transplantation, i.e. in future, a prospective donor must explicitly refuse to donate organs, a shift that supporters say will boost organ donation rates and save lives.

National overview:

Lex Netflix
Camera, lights, action: The new film law found a majority.
The amendment of the film law made it to the finish line, despite headwinds. This means that, in future, streaming services will have to hand over a part of their revenues in Switzerland. The electorate adopted the amendment to the Film Act on Sunday, with the so-called Lex Netflix received a solid majority with 58.4%. The national turnout was 40%.

Despite the clear verdict, the opponents of the law spoke of a "respectable success" and now fear that subscription costs will increase. Those in favour of the change claim that the opponents are spreading "fake news". The prices for Netflix subscriptions are already higher than in the USA, for example.

The population in urban areas said yes to the Film law with 61%, with 53% yes in rural areas In areas that can be assigned to neither the cities nor the country (intermediate area), the result was 55% yes. While it’s true that German-speaking Switzerland and French-speaking Switzerland made the same decision on the Film Act, a ‘Röstigraben’ is nevertheless recognisable, as the result differed between the language regions by a considerable 17 percentage points.

In German-speaking Switzerland, 54% of the population said yes to the film law, compared to 71% yes in French-speaking Switzerland. The result was 58% yes in the Italian-speaking areas.

Transplantation Law
The waiting list for life-saving organs is long in this country. That’s about to change.
Anyone who does not want to donate organs after his/her death should have to record this. The electorate has spoken out clearly in favour of amending the Transplantation Act, with the Yes share of the vote being 60.2 %. The population is thereby undergoing a paradigm shift in organ donation.
For Anna Wanner, Co-Head of Domestic Affairs at CH Media, the scepticism of the opponents of organ donation must be taken seriously. The Confederation thereby has a duty.
The population in urban areas said yes to the Transplantation law with 62%, compared to 57% yes in rural areas. In areas that can neither be assigned to the cities nor the country  (intermediate area), the result was 58%.

Although the proposal on the transplantation law was accepted in both German-speaking Switzerland and French-speaking Switzerland, there was also a Röstigraben here, as the result between the language regions differed by a considerable 24 percentage points.

The last vote on Organ transplantation was on 7 February 1999, when the electorate was able to decide on a constitutional article on transplantation medicine.

Frontex
Switzerland can now make a greater financial and personnel contribution to the expansion of the EU border protection agency Frontex. The electorate has spoken out in favour of this. Specifically, CHF 61 million are to flow to Frontex annually, compared to today’s CHF 14 million. Switzerland will also make more personnel available. 71.5% of the Swiss electorate was in favour of this expansion.
Despite the clear verdict at the ballot box, Frontex opponents are undeterred. Switzerland must stand up for fundamental rights within the EU Border Protection Agency. The proponents also admit that the situation at the Schengen external borders is not perfect.
The canton of Zug approved the bill, but with a lower yes vote of 77.1%. The overall result in Switzerland was 71.5% yes.

Swiss referendums on Sunday
Steaming services to contribute to Swiss film industry
Opt-out requirement for organ donations
Expansion of border control agency

Central Switzerland
All six cantons in Central Switzerland were in favour of the Frontex expansion.
With the exception of Schwyz, they all also voted Yes to the Transplantation law, while only the voters of Lucerne and Zug voted Yes for the Film law.

Canton Zug

All three federal bills were adopted in the Canton of Zug, even though some municipalities voted against.

All results are percentages
Green = percentage Yes                      Red= percentage No