Elections in Times of Multiple Crises: Turnout and Vote Choice in the Swiss Federal Elections of 2023

Abstract This article examines how successive crises shaped electoral participation and vote choice in the 2023 Swiss federal elections. We assess the influence of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the subsequent energy crisis, which differ in their nature and, relatedly, in their proximity to voters and the clarity of political responsibility. Using individual‐level panel data from the Swiss Election Study (Selects, 2025), we analyze how crisis salience and evaluations of government performance affected turnout and support for incumbent parties. The findings reveal strongly differentiated effects. While the COVID‐19 pandemic exerted demobilizing effects and reduced support for governing parties, the energy crisis had mobilizing consequences and increased incumbent support. By contrast, the war in Ukraine had no systematic impact. Overall, these results show that crises generate heterogeneous and sometimes offsetting electoral effects, underlining the importance of crisis characteristics for understanding electoral behavior.