At Stake in this Election:

On 25 February 2024, Liechtensteiners will vote in a constitutional referendum to decide if the executive government should be directly elected. Currently, Liechtensteiners directly elect their Parliament, and Parliament nominates members of the executive government (Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Government Councilors) who are then officially appointed by the Prince. If the referendum passes, Liechtensteiners will directly elect each executive position.

The referendum question is:

Do you want to accept the initiators' draft to amend the constitution of October 5, 1921 (involvement of the people in appointing the government)?

The response options are Yes or No.

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: Prince HANS-ADAM II (since 13 November 1989)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Daniel RISCH (since 25 March 2021)
• Assembly: unicameral Parliament (Landtag) with 25 seats

Electoral System:

• The Prince is a hereditary monarch.
• The Prime Minister is nominated by Parliament and appointed by the Prince. The parliamentary majority leader typically becomes Prime Minister.
• In Parliament, all 25 members are directly elected by open-list proportional representation vote within multi-seat constituencies. All members serve 4-year terms.

Last Referendum:

In the January 2024 referendum, voters rejected three proposals that would have enacted additional building regulations, created photovoltaic energy requirements, and changed the current electronic health record system. Voter turnout was 67.88%.

Information for Voters:

Im Fokus: Abstimmung am 25. Februar 2024 / In Focus: Vote on February 25, 2024 (in German)

Key Deadlines:

• Voter registration deadline: N/A; Voter registration is passive and residence based.

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 39,330 (2022)
• Registered Voters: 20,730 (2023)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 19,820 (2022)
• CEDAW Status: Ratified (by accession) 22 December 1995
• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 7 out of 25 (28%) in the Parliament
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.935, Very High, Rank 16 (2021)
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Unavailable

Disability Data:

• CRPD Status: Signed 8 September 2020, not yet ratified
• Projected population with a disability: 6,293 (2022)

IFES Resources:

• Does IFES have a presence in Liechtenstein: No
• Election Access: Yes
• Election Judgements: Yes, 1 judgment and 7 resources

Original Question (in German):

Wollt Ihr den Entwurf der Initianten zur Änderung der Verfassung vom 5. Oktober 1921 (Einbezug des Volkes bei der Bestellung der Regierung) annehmen?