Initiative «Cash is Freedom»

1. Jura✓ Yes majority, Yes share 61.7%, Turnout 47%
2. Neuchâtel✓ Yes majority, Yes share 59.3%, Turnout 49%
3. Ticino✓ Yes majority, Yes share 58.8%, Turnout 58%
4. Valais✓ Yes majority, Yes share 57.6%, Turnout 52%
5. Geneva✓ Yes majority, Yes share 55.2%, Turnout 49%
6. Schwyz✓ Yes majority, Yes share 53.1%, Turnout 61%
7. Fribourg✓ Yes majority, Yes share 52.9%, Turnout 55%
8. Schaffhausen✓ Yes majority, Yes share 51.2%, Turnout 72%
9. Uri✓ Yes majority, Yes share 50.0%, Turnout 51%
10. Glarus✗ No majority, Yes share 49.2%, Turnout 51%
11. St. Gallen✗ No majority, Yes share 46.8%, Turnout 54%
12. Appenzell Innerrhoden ½✗ No majority, Yes share 46.7%, Turnout 53%
13. Thurgau✗ No majority, Yes share 46.5%, Turnout 54%
14. Appenzell Ausserrhoden ½✗ No majority, Yes share 46.3%, Turnout 58%
15. Obwalden ½✗ No majority, Yes share 45.6%, Turnout 62%
16. Solothurn✗ No majority, Yes share 45.1%, Turnout 53%
17. Graubünden✗ No majority, Yes share 44.0%, Turnout 54%
18. Aargau✗ No majority, Yes share 43.5%, Turnout 54%
19. Basel-Landschaft ½✗ No majority, Yes share 43.3%, Turnout 53%
20. Bern✗ No majority, Yes share 43.0%, Turnout 55%
21. Nidwalden ½✗ No majority, Yes share 42.5%, Turnout 62%
22. Zurich✗ No majority, Yes share 40.9%, Turnout 58%
23. Lucerne✗ No majority, Yes share 40.8%, Turnout 57%
24. Zug✗ No majority, Yes share 40.8%, Turnout 60%
25. Vaud✗ No majority, Yes share 40.2%, Turnout 56%
26. Basel-Stadt ½✗ No majority, Yes share 37.7%, Turnout 57%

✓ Yes majority · ✗ No majority · Turnout %
½ half canton: counts half towards the majority of the cantons.

Sources: Federal Statistical Office (FSO); older votes: Swissvotes, Année Politique Suisse, University of Bern; map base: FSO, GEOSTAT

Cantons by their majority language: Fribourg and Valais count as French-speaking, Bern and Graubünden as German-speaking.

Yes or no?

What exactly is it about?

In Switzerland, people increasingly pay without cash, for example with cards or payment apps. According to a National Bank survey from 2024, 95 percent of the population want cash to remain available as a means of payment. Today the law states that the Swiss National Bank ensures the supply of cash and that the franc is Switzerland's currency. The popular initiative «Yes to an independent, free Swiss currency with coins or banknotes (Cash is freedom)» wants to add two new provisions to the Federal Constitution. First, the Confederation must ensure that coins or banknotes are always available in sufficient quantity. Second, the Swiss franc can be replaced by another currency only with the approval of the people and the cantons. According to the Federal Council, the initiative has no practical effects and creates neither a right to pay in cash nor a duty to accept cash. Parliament sets a direct counter-proposal against the initiative, which is voted on separately. The initiative needs a majority of voters and of the cantons.

What is disputed?

The initiative committee argues that only the initiative secures in the Constitution that real money remains, namely notes and coins. These work independently of electricity and networks and protect privacy and against negative interest rates. The initiative also obliges the Confederation to ensure supply, whereas the counter-proposal leaves the task to the National Bank. The Federal Council and Parliament recommend rejecting the initiative. They argue that the counter-proposal takes up the initiative's concerns and also anchors them in the Constitution. To do so it adopts proven, legally clear wording from existing laws, whereas the initiative uses new wording that raises questions of interpretation. They consider the explicitly required popular vote for replacing the franc unnecessary, since the Constitution can only be changed that way anyway.

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