SVP National Council Member Secures Release of Addresses for Election Campaigning
A victory for Thomas Aeschi, an SVP National Council member from Zug: Municipalities in his home canton will now be required to provide political parties with the addresses of young citizens and new residents. This was decided by the Zug Administrative Court.
The Administrative Court is of the opinion that election campaigning constitutes a «legitimate, non-material purpose.» The disclosure of the data is therefore proportionate, the court writes in its ruling, which was also reported by Blick online on Monday. The eleven municipalities in Zug are thus required to disclose the last name, first name, gender, year of birth, and current address of young citizens and new residents to political parties. The municipalities are not doing this voluntarily. They had previously opposed the release of the address lists on data protection grounds.
Election campaigning is not advertising
The legal proceedings were triggered by an advertising campaign launched by the SVP in the canton of Zug. Ahead of the 2015 federal elections, the party submitted requests to all municipalities asking them to provide data on «young people, newcomers, and the older, female generation.» However, with the exception of Oberägeri, no municipality was willing to hand over the information on its residents, prompting the SVP to appeal to the Zug Cantonal Government. The government, however, shared the municipalities’ view and turned down the SVP’s request. The cantonal SVP president, Thomas Aeschi, subsequently filed an appeal with the Administrative Court. He argued that political publications are not advertising in the strict sense of the term. The Administrative Court has now ruled in favor of this argument. (SDA)
