It depends on your municipality. In some they have local ballots where every candidate has to be approved. If they are denied because of racist (or similar) reasons, they can appeal the decision to a court. I believe the cow-bell-lady did that, but i dont remember the outcome.
Edit: did some research, she was granted citizenship recently. Here is an article about her (in english): https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/swiss-passport_dutch-troublemaker-finally-granted-swiss-citizenship/43143162
Some context: This woman was trying to prohibit farmers from equipping their cows with bells, because she felt that they made too much noise. The population in this rural and traditional village did not like that, as they disliked people interfering with their traditions (especially since she was no swiss citizen). Some months later, she asked for naturalization, which was promptly denied by the popular vote in the village.
There are two basic scenarios:
Indeed, the lobbying is nasty and the party financing is not as transparent as it could be.
But discrediting the whole system as undemocratic because of those “minor flaws” is just not fair IMO.
You are not required to vote. You will not be punished if you abstain from your vote. You are completely free to chose “yes” or “no” based on your own judgings.
Isn’t that exactly what democracy is about?
Its probably worth mentioning that some of those (like the sun cross) are also used as neo-nazi insignia. I am completely in favour of still using them (we shouldn’t let nazis spoil century old symbols), but I felt it was important to note.
A good starting point for people coming into the industry is usually tech support (L1). Maybe you can find a position in a company where they use many FOSS applications (they are quite widespread). From there you can specialize yourself and transition into a system admin.
But keep in mind that “breaking the power of tech gigants” will most likely not pay well (unfortunately).
Edit: depending on your degree you might also fullfill the criteria for graduate training programs. They will usually put you in a higher ranking position in a shorter period of time.