1939 Swiss federal election

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 29 October 1939. The Free Democratic Party emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 49 of the 187 seats. Due to the outbreak of World War II, there were no elections in nine of the 25 cantons; Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Schwyz, Solothurn, Ticino, Valais, Vaud and Zug. In what became known as "silent elections", a total of 55 candidates were elected unopposed.

Results

National Council

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	160,377	25.93	45	–5
	Free Democratic Party	128,163	20.72	49	+1
	Conservative People's Party	105,018	16.98	43	+1
	Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	91,182	14.74	22	+1
	Alliance of Independents	43,735	7.07	9	+2
	Young Farmers	27,708	4.48	3	–1
	Social-Political Group	16,891	2.73	5	+2
	Communist Party	15,962	2.58	4	+2
	Liberal Socialist Party	10,865	1.76	1	+1
	Liberal Democratic Party	10,241	1.66	6	0
	Evangelical People's Party	5,726	0.93	0	–1
	Other parties	2,665	0.43	0	0
Total		618,533	100.00	187	0
Valid votes		618,533	96.67
Invalid/blank votes		21,332	3.33
Total votes		639,865	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		861,266	74.29
Source: Mackie & Rose, Nohlen & Stöver

By constituency

Constituency	Seats	Electorate	Turnout	Party		Votes	Seats won
Aargau	12	75,509	67,271		Social Democratic Party	258,919	5
					Conservative People's Party	168,606	3
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	113,270	2
					Free Democratic Party	125,232	2
					Young Farmers	41,663	0
					Ring of Independents	34,097	0
					Evangelical People's Party	27,075	0
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	2	Elected unopposed			Social Democratic Party		1
					Free Democratic Party		1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1	3,501	2,153		Conservative People's Party	1,640	1
Basel-Landschaft	4	28,207	17,788		Social Democratic Party	18,841	1
					Free Democratic Party	16,448	1
					Liberal Socialist Party	11,522	1
					Basel Farmers' Party, Free Democrats and Independents	8,864	1
					Conservative People's Party	8,767	1
					Young Farmers	2,788	0
					Communist Party	1,617	0
					Action Committee for Breaking the Interest Bondage	259	0
Basel-Stadt	7	51,833	35,833		Social Democratic Party	81,452	2
					Ring of Independents	34,711	2
					Liberal Democratic Party	34,202	1
					Free Democratic Party	32,087	1
					Conservative People's Party	25,373	1
					Communist Party	22,784	0
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	14,869	0
Bern	31	209,052	148,467		Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	1,421,518	10
					Social Democratic Party	1,351,567	10
					Free Democratic Party	674,258	5
					Young Farmers	458,062	3
					Conservative People's Party	267,642	2
					Ring of Independents	169,046	1
					Liberal Socialist Party	123,477	0
					Communist Party	24,891	0
Fribourg	7	40,945	28,485		Conservative People's Party	118,997	5
					Free Democratic Party	51,815	2
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	24,003	0
Geneva	8	50,172	31,849		Social Democratic Party	90,591	3
					Free Democratic Party	81,438	3
					Liberal Democratic Party	42,836	1
					Conservative People's Party	34,276	1
Glarus	2	10,148	7,828		Social-Political Group	6,495	1
					Social Democratic Party	4,496	1
					Free Democratic Party	4,242	0
Grisons	6	37,409	28,325		Social-Political Group	64,095	3
					Conservative People's Party	56,059	2
					Free Democratic Party	28,669	1
					Social Democratic Party	15,939	0
Lucerne	9	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		5
					Free Democratic Party		3
					Social Democratic Party		1
Neuchâtel	6	Elected unopposed			Social Democratic Party		3
					Free Democratic Party		2
					Liberal Democratic Party		1
Nidwalden	1	4,463	3,180		Conservative People's Party	1,430	1
Obwalden	1	5,461	2,275		Conservative People's Party	1,535	1
Schaffhausen	2	15,692	13,896		Social Democratic Party	11,620	1
					Free Democratic Party	9,271	1
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	5,502	0
Schwyz	3	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		2
					Free Democratic Party		1
Solothurn	7	Elected unopposed			Free Democratic Party		3
					Social Democratic Party		2
					Conservative People's Party		2
St. Gallen	13	77,171	64,614		Conservative People's Party	317,244	6
					Free Democratic Party	213,143	4
					Social Democratic Party	128,964	2
					Ring of Independents	59,579	1
					Association of Free Democrats	38,509	0
					Young Farmers	35,309	0
Ticino	7	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		3
					Free Democratic Party		2
					Social-Political Group		1
					Social Democratic Party		1
Thurgau	6	39,298	31,485		Social Democratic Party	49,323	2
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	42,542	2
					Conservative People's Party	36,987	1
					Free Democratic Party	36,796	1
					Young Farmers	13,991	0
Uri	1	6,979	4,091		Free Democratic Party	3,448	1
Vaud	15	Elected unopposed			Free Democratic Party		6
					Social Democratic Party		4
					Liberal Democratic Party		3
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents		2
Valais	6	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		4
					Free Democratic Party		1
					Social Democratic Party		1
Zug	2	Elected unopposed			Conservative People's Party		1
					Free Democratic Party		1
Zürich	28	205,426	152,325		Social Democratic Party	1,306,638	10
					Ring of Independents	724,715	5
					Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	574,284	5
					Free Democratic Party	517,470	4
					Social-Political Group	338,508	2
					Conservative People's Party	287,214	2
					Liberal Socialist Party	111,943	0
					Young Farmers	104,068	0
					Communist Party	98,114	0
					Evangelical People's Party	97,178	0
Source: Bundesblatt, 29 November 1939

Council of the States

In several cantons the members of the Council of the States were chosen by the cantonal parliaments.

Party		Seats	+/–
	Swiss Conservative People's Party	18	–1
	Free Democratic Party	14	–1
	Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents	4	+1
	Social Democratic Party	3	0
	Liberal Democratic Party	2	0
	Social-Political Group	0	0
	Other parties	3	+1
Total		44	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver