State Chancellery sends out list of candidates for Steinhausen

The State Chancellery, the cantonal authority responsible for holding the elections in Zug, has inadvertently sent out a ballot sheet of candidates’ names from the municipality of Steinhausen, when in fact they were those of Cham.

A letter has been sent to locals affected with the assurance that, although this mistake has occurred, the ballot papers will still be valid.

Indeed, with so many candidates standing for election on Super Sunday in less than two weeks’ time, the chancellery, headed by Tobias Moser, the secretary to the cantonal government, certainly has its work cut out at present.

In the letter he sent out, he explained that the 06 list of the Social Democratic Party, including the SP, SP60+ and SP Women’s parties, was inadvertently headed Steinhausen instead of Cham owing to an editorial error. Initially, the aforementioned parties felt the error could have had a negative effect on them in the elections, but they have since decided not to make a formal complaint.

As mentioned, he assured residents receiving the ballot papers that they were indeed valid for Cham and at the same time apologised for this error. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Department of Inner-Cantonal Affairs which oversees such matters.

The cantonal authorities, the Zuger Zeitung and the Swissvote organisation are all doing their best to give support to electors under a system which involves more than just putting a cross by the chosen candidates’ names, though this is the case in part. Electors can "pick and mix" candidates, though instructions have to be carefully followed, even after a choice has been made, with ballot papers first put in one envelope before being put in another.

If there are ballot papers which are declared void, as it certain to be the case, this can play a crucial role in who is elected, and who is not.