Polity Atlas
Glossary term

Mandatory referendum

Also: compulsory referendumЧитать на русском

A popular vote that must be held automatically when a defined kind of decision is proposed, without any petition.

In more detail

In Switzerland it applies to constitutional revisions, joining collective security or supranational organisations, and certain urgent laws. It needs a majority of voters and of cantons; 244 compulsory votes were held between 1848 and June 2026.