Citizens attend the Landsgemeinde, a traditional public vote in Appenzell, Switzerland, where historically the only proof of citizenship required for men to vote was the display of a sword or Swiss military sidearm.
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 27, 2026
One of Switzerland’s oldest forms of direct democracy, the vote… pic.twitter.com/uWwInMb255
The Landsgemeinde is a traditional Swiss political event that consists of non-anonymous voting on public issues in an open air assembly. Such an assembly recently took place in the Swiss town of Appenzell in a canton of the same name in the northeastern part of the country.
In this direct democracy, only those men willing to bear arms in defense of the community were allowed to vote. Although military service is no longer a requirement and women were granted the right to vote in 1991, some participants still carry swords to the Landsgemeinde.
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