Page "Federal Council (Switzerland)" Paragraph 46

The members of the Federal Council are elected for a term of four years by both chambers of the Federal Assembly sitting together as the United Federal Assembly.

Each Councillor is elected individually by secret ballot by an absolute majority of votes.

Every adult Swiss citizen is eligible, but in practice, only Members of Parliament or more rarely, members of Cantonal governments are nominated by the political parties and receive a substantial amount of votes.

The voting is conducted in several rounds, under a form of exhaustive ballot: in the first two rounds, anyone can enter their name ; but in subsequent rounds, the person receiving the fewest votes is removed from the race until one candidate gains an absolute majority.