Elections and foreigners

I enjoy strolling through the streets of Geneva, which have recently been plastered with countless posters for the forthcoming 'municipal' elections. I suppose it's too late to stand, but I might be interested in doing so in future elections. A friend told me that you can be elected even as a foreigner if you've lived in Geneva for more than eight years. Is that really true?
Ricardo
That's right, the communal elections, known in the canton of Geneva as municipal elections, will be held very soon, on 23 March 2025 to be precise. On this occasion, the population will have the opportunity to elect the deliberative bodies of the 45 communes that make up the canton of Geneva, known as "municipal councils".
It should be noted that elections for municipal executives, i.e. administrative councils (previously known as mayors and deputy mayors in municipalities with fewer than 3,000 inhabitants), will also be held on 23 March 2025 for the first round and on 13 April 2025 for the second round.
Your question relates to the ownership of political rights, which are made up of the right to vote (which also includes the right to sign initiatives and referendums), the right to elect and the right to stand for election. To answer this question, it is necessary to examine the particularities of each level of the federal state. In Switzerland, the situation varies depending on whether it is at federal, cantonal or communal level.
To determine who has political rights at federal level, reference must be made to the Swiss Constitution. Article 136 states that all Swiss men and women over the age of 18 who are not prevented from doing so by mental illness or feeble-mindedness enjoy political rights in federal matters.
For the cantonal and communal levels, it is necessary to turn to the cantonal constitutions and, in some cases, the legislation that prevails in each canton in terms of political rights. Article 48 of the Geneva Constitution excludes the right of foreigners to vote and stand for election. At municipal level, on the other hand, foreigners who have been resident in Switzerland for at least eight years do have the right to vote and stand for election, but - note - not the right to stand for election.
Under current Geneva law, you may have misunderstood your friend, or he may have been too enthusiastic, because you will not be able to stand as a candidate in municipal elections, as this privilege is reserved for Swiss nationals only. You will, however, be able to exercise your right to vote, which means that you will be able to vote in favour of one or more of the parties or persons of your choice appearing as candidates on the lists that you will receive with the rest of your voting material, which has already begun to be distributed to letterboxes at the end of the lake.