Swiss election results confirm nationalist party victory

The president of Switzerland's leading party, the right wing SVP, Toni Brunner, center, talks to the media after national elections in Bern, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct.18, 2015. Swiss voters have cast ballots to elect their parliament and polls show a nationalist party could advance amid widespread concerns about the recent influx of migrants into Europe.(Alessandro della Valle / KEYSTONE via AP) The president of Switzerland's leading party, the right wing SVP, Toni Brunner, center, talks to the media after national elections in Bern, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct.18, 2015. Swiss voters have cast ballots to elect their parliament and polls show a nationalist party could advance amid widespread concerns about the recent influx of migrants into Europe.(Alessandro della Valle / KEYSTONE via AP)

By Associated Press October 19, 2015 1 min read

GENEVA (AP) – The Swiss federal government has confirmed a dominant performance in legislative elections by a nationalist party that seized on widespread concerns about mass migration in Europe, marking a shift to the political right.

Official results released Monday showed that the anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party collected 29.4 percent of the vote, an increase of nearly 3 percentage points from the previous election to the lower house of parliament, the National Council, in 2011.

The Social Democrats were a distant second, virtually unchanged at 18.8 percent. The pro-business Free Democrats increased by 1.3 percentage points to 16.4 percent.

Turnout was 48.4 percent. Analysts cited voter fatigue for that relatively low figure.

The result was likely to weigh heavily on National Council voting for the seven-member executive Federal Council on Dec. 9.