The government is now trying to soothe the fears of the German-speaking losers in the country's eastern heartland, such as the tiny half-canton of Appenzell Inner-Rhoden, where 68% of the voters (by head-count, a total of 4, 486 people) said No.

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At the latest count, 73 are retiring, around one-fifth of the total, and their incumbency effect retires with them.

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Late on Tuesday, the election commission announced that the spoiled ballots would count in the overall vote total, increasing the likelihood of a run-off between the top two candidates, news agencies report.

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Their best-known experiment involved asking viewers to watch a brief video of people passing basketballs and to count the total number of times the players wearing white passed the ball.

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As neither had anywhere near the total of 50% required for an outright win, the count went to a second round, with the second-preference votes of the four eliminated candidates reallocated to the leading pair.

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