Aren't these just small villages with random results?

No. That is why only municipalities of at least 1,000 residents are counted, and the leaders diverge not narrowly but sharply — on average about 20 percentage points from the 50% line, and systematically in the same direction (they reject what Switzerland accepts). That is a real political pattern, not the statistical noise of a few ballots.

National ranking · Data 2015–2026 · Source: BFS

The municipalities that most often vote against the national result

Swiss municipality rankings →Aligned with Switzerland →

Unteriberg (SZ) most often ends up on the opposite side of the national result: on 45.1% of all federal ballot proposals (2015–2026) its own majority differed from Switzerland. Next are Vorderthal (43.1%) and Muotathal (40.2%). Only municipalities of at least 1,000 residents count — in tiny municipalities, genuine political independence could not be told apart from the random swing of a handful of ballots. Source: FSO.

Top 100

BFS · 2015–2026

Rank	Municipality	Divergence	Canton	Residents
1	Unteriberg	45.1%	SZ	2'524
2	Vorderthal	43.1%	SZ	1'032
3	Muotathal	40.2%	SZ	3'604
4	St. Stephan	38.2%	BE	1'316
5	Buchholterberg	38.2%	BE	1'584
6	Rothenthurm	37.3%	SZ	2'604
7	Hasle	36.6%	LU	1'841
8	Rüschegg	36.3%	BE	1'728
9	Sattel	36.3%	SZ	2'097
10	Urnäsch	36.3%	AR	2'382
11	Boltigen	35.3%	BE	1'258
12	Unterlangenegg	35.3%	BE	1'069
13	Lauerz	35.3%	SZ	1'165
14	St. Silvester	35.3%	FR	1'062
15	Gontenschwil	35.3%	AG	2'249
16	Fischenthal	34.3%	ZH	2'697
17	Linden	34.3%	BE	1'272
18	Diemtigen	34.3%	BE	2'307
19	Röthenbach im Emmental	34.3%	BE	1'221
20	Roveredo	34.3%	GR	2'711
21	Schmiedrued	34.3%	AG	1'145
22	Lausanne	34.3%	VD	145'596
23	Birwinken	33.7%	TG	1'452
24	Schwellbrunn	33.3%	AR	1'543
25	Nesslau	33.3%	SG	3'937
26	Bern	32.4%	BE	138'562
27	Adelboden	32.4%	BE	3'438
28	Erlenbach im Simmental	32.4%	BE	1'709
29	Guggisberg	32.4%	BE	1'487
30	Eggiwil	32.4%	BE	2'438
31	Escholzmatt-Marbach	32.4%	LU	4'587
32	Emmetten	32.4%	NW	1'691
33	Eichberg	32.4%	SG	1'614
34	Schänis	32.4%	SG	4'213
35	Neckertal	32.4%	SG	6'446
36	Dürrenäsch	32.4%	AG	1'393
37	La Chaux-de-Fonds	32.4%	NE	37'858
38	Centovalli	31.7%	TI	1'049
39	Beatenberg	31.4%	BE	1'210
40	Eriswil	31.4%	BE	1'346
41	Flühli	31.4%	LU	1'918
42	Reichenburg	31.4%	SZ	4'142
43	Wolfhalden	31.4%	AR	1'913
44	Flums	31.4%	SG	5'458
45	Luzein	31.4%	GR	1'706
46	Reitnau	31.4%	AG	1'663
47	Wäldi	31.4%	TG	1'179
48	Amlikon-Bissegg	31.4%	TG	1'423
49	Serravalle	31.4%	TI	2'052
50	Lema	31.4%	TI	2'667
51	Luthern	30.7%	LU	1'252
52	Bauma	30.4%	ZH	5'109
53	Biel/Bienne	30.4%	BE	57'462
54	Frutigen	30.4%	BE	7'136
55	Reichenbach im Kandertal	30.4%	BE	3'850
56	Stocken-Höfen	30.4%	BE	1'020
57	Affoltern im Emmental	30.4%	BE	1'224
58	Entlebuch	30.4%	LU	3'409
59	Tuggen	30.4%	SZ	3'491
60	Morschach	30.4%	SZ	1'402
61	Wahlen	30.4%	BL	1'653
62	Quarten	30.4%	SG	3'118
63	Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann	30.4%	SG	2'614
64	Affeltrangen	30.4%	TG	2'890
65	Wuppenau	30.4%	TG	1'215
66	Homburg	30.4%	TG	1'597
67	Bussnang	30.4%	TG	2'599
68	Tresa	30.4%	TI	3'147
69	Vevey	30.4%	VD	20'147
70	Saas-Grund	30.4%	VS	1'043
71	Staffelbach	29.7%	AG	1'398
72	Lommis	29.7%	TG	1'355
73	Hagenbuch	29.4%	ZH	1'168
74	Dürrenroth	29.4%	BE	1'075
75	Werthenstein	29.4%	LU	2'161
76	Attinghausen	29.4%	UR	1'781
77	Matzendorf	29.4%	SO	1'439
78	Gonten	29.4%	AI	1'480
79	Oberriet	29.4%	SG	9'417
80	Benken	29.4%	SG	3'119
81	Lütisburg	29.4%	SG	1'647
82	Mosnang	29.4%	SG	2'936
83	Niederbüren	29.4%	SG	1'571
84	Erlen	29.4%	TG	4'028
85	Hauptwil-Gottshaus	29.4%	TG	2'121
86	Giornico	29.4%	TI	1'761
87	Val Mara	29.4%	TI	3'048
88	Sembrancher	29.4%	VS	1'113
89	St. Niklaus	29.4%	VS	2'347
90	Geneva	29.4%	GE	211'152
91	Hallwil	29%	AG	1'040
92	Grindelwald	28.7%	BE	3'942
93	Plasselb	28.7%	FR	1'099
94	Tobel-Tägerschen	28.7%	TG	1'751
95	Mezzovico-Vira	28.7%	TI	1'418
96	Biasca	28.7%	TI	6'213
97	Wimmis	28.4%	BE	2'732
98	Wattenwil	28.4%	BE	3'219
99	Wyssachen	28.4%	BE	1'125
100	Hergiswil bei Willisau	28.4%	LU	1'934

Popular votes (sd-t-17-02) 2015–2026 · Federal Statistical Office (FSO), retrieved 28.09.2026

And the Swiss abroad?

BFS · 2015–2026

Only 12 of the 26 cantons report their expatriates separately — so no national Swiss-abroad figure can be derived from this. These blocs are not municipalities and do not appear in the ranking above.

In exactly these 12 cantons the Swiss abroad show the mirror image of the rural leaders: 12 of 12 blocs voted on average more in favour (yes) than Switzerland. Geneva diverged from the national result most often (28.4%).

Swiss abroad (canton)	Divergence	Avg vs CH
Geneva GE	28.4%	+6.4
Appenzell Innerrhoden AI	22.8%	+6.5
Basel-City BS	22.5%	+7.6
Fribourg FR	22.5%	+10
Vaud VD	20.6%	+8.8
Lucerne LU	19.6%	+7.1
Zurich ZH	19.6%	+7.2
Uri UR	18.6%	+6.5
Aargau AG	17.6%	+7.1
St. Gallen SG	15.7%	+6
Thurgau TG	15.7%	+6.9
Valais VS	15.7%	+8.2

How we measure this

BFS

Share of federal ballot proposals (2015–2026) on which the municipality's own majority landed on the opposite side of the Swiss-wide result (yes vs no). Based on the FSO ballot results across every proposal in the period; only municipalities that took part in at least 50 proposals are ranked. Municipal ties (exactly 50%) count neither for nor against. Only municipalities of at least 1,000 residents appear: in very small municipalities a few votes can flip the majority, so genuine political distinctiveness could not be reliably separated from chance. The top ranks are nonetheless not an artefact — the municipalities involved diverge deeply (around 20 percentage points) and in a consistent direction, not narrowly and at random.

Frequently asked questions

Aren't these just small villages with random results?: No. That is why only municipalities of at least 1,000 residents are counted, and the leaders diverge not narrowly but sharply — on average about 20 percentage points from the 50% line, and systematically in the same direction (they reject what Switzerland accepts). That is a real political pattern, not the statistical noise of a few ballots.