The next three most popular parties were the SP (29.03%), the SVP (12.79%) and the FDP (10.25%). In the federal election, a total of 1,729 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 65.3%. In the 2009 Conseil d'Etat/Staatsrat election a total of 1,553 votes were cast, of which 86 or about 5.5% were invalid. The voter participation was 59.1%, which is similar to the cantonal average of 54.67%. In the 2007 Swiss Council of States election a total of 1,707 votes were cast, of which 108 or about 6.3% were invalid. The voter participation was 65.8%, which is much more than the cantonal average of 59.88%. , Ayent had an unemployment rate of 4.8%. , there were 121 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 59 businesses involved in this sector. 208 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 34 businesses in this sector. 478 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 107 businesses in this sector. There were 1,499 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 42.6% of the workforce.  , there were 187 workers who commuted into the municipality and 855 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 4.6 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 8.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 77.2% used a private car. From the , 2,593 or 86.4% were Roman Catholic, while 140 or 4.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 16 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.53% of the population), and there were 20 individuals (or about 0.67% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 6 (or about 0.20% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 2 individuals who were Buddhist, 1 person who was Hindu and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 132 (or about 4.40% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 96 individuals (or about 3.20% of the population) did not answer the question. In Ayent about 1,004 or (33.5%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 299 or (10.0%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule").