Sortition
In a first step, around 22,000 people over the age of 16, regardless of their citizenship, were drawn from the Federal Statistical Office’s sampling frame. These individuals were contacted by mail and invited to take part in the Citizens’ Assembly. Those interested in participating could register for the second sortition. For this purpose, they provided information about their age, education, and political orientation. In total, 2,004 people registered to participate in the Citizens’ Assembly.
With the help of this information, 100 people were selected by sortition on 25 June 2024 at the Polit-Forum Bern in a second step to take part in the Citizens’ Assembly. For this purpose, an open-source software developed by the Sortition Foundation was used (the functioning of the software is described in a scientific article published in the journal Nature). The use of this software made it possible to select 100 people whose composition in terms of age, gender, education, and political orientation was as diverse as possible, bringing in a wide range of opinions and experiences.
