1908 Swiss federal election

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Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 29 October 1908. The Free Democratic Party retained its majority in the National Council.^[1]

The 167 members of the National Council were elected in 49 single- and multi-member constituencies using a three-round system. Candidates had to receive a majority in the first or second round to be elected; if it went to a third round, only a plurality was required. Voters could cast as many votes as there were seats in their constituency.^[2] There was one seat for every 20,000 citizens, with seats allocated to cantons in proportion to their population.^[2]

Voter turnout was highest in Aargau at 83.1% (higher than the 80% in Schaffhausen, where voting was compulsory) and lowest in Zug at 16.1%.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Free Democratic Party	202,732	50.91	105	+1
	Catholic People's Party	81,733	20.52	34	–1
	Social Democratic Party	70,003	17.58	7	+5
	Liberal Centre	23,597	5.93	16	–3
	Democratic Group	14,414	3.62	5	–1
	Others	5,745	1.44	0	0
Total		398,224	100.00	167	0
Valid votes		398,224	93.32
Invalid/blank votes		28,528	6.68
Total votes		426,752	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		809,508	52.72
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] BFS (seats)