A three-part referendum was held in Switzerland on 21 October 1877.^[1] A federal law on working in factories was approved by voters, whilst a federal law on compensation for not serving in the military and a federal law on the political rights of settled and travelling people and the loss of rights for Swiss citizens were both rejected.^[1]

The referendum was classed as an optional referendum,^[1] which meant that only a majority of the public vote was required for the proposals to be approve, as opposed to the mandatory referendums that required both a majority of voters and cantons to approve the proposals.^[2]