The Bundesrat allows trials with e-voting again. The three cantons of Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen and Thurgau will be able to use Swiss Post’s new electronic voting system for the first time during the federal vote on June 18. This was decided by the Bundesrat on Friday. The cantons will decide in the autumn whether electronic voting will also be possible.
In Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen and Thurgau, however, only a small proportion of voters are allowed to vote electronically. In total, the cantons have requested about 65,000 voters for June 18. According to the Federal Chancellery, that is about 1.2 percent of all Swiss voters.
Open to Swiss abroad
The Swiss living abroad can vote electronically in all three cantons. In Basel-Stadt, people with disabilities living in Switzerland can also vote electronically. In contrast, in St. Gallen, voters from communities that want to offer e-voting can register for electronic voting.
The basic permits for the cantons for a limited number of voters are valid up to and including the votes on 18 May 2025. In addition to these basic permits, the cantons require approval from the Federal Chancellery before each vote.
It is also up to the cantons whether the federal elections in 2023 can be electronically voted. According to the Federal Chancellery, the cantons decide whether to submit corresponding applications or not.
demolition in 2019
Electronic voting systems were last used in 2019. In that year, the Bundesrat decided not to use electronic voting as a regular voting channel for the time being due to security problems.
As a result, Swiss Post and the Canton of Geneva have withdrawn their previous systems. The 2019 federal election did not allow electronic voting. According to previous information from the Federal Chancellery, as of 2004, 15 cantons had made more than 300 attempts to vote electronically.
In the nearly four years that followed, Swiss Post’s e-voting system was realigned. The Post published the verifiable source code and documentation of its new 2021 system and fundamentally improved it, including a public break-in test, as the Federal Chancellery wrote.
The federal government now only allows fully verifiable e-voting systems that have been independently audited on its behalf. They may be used for up to 30 percent of eligible voters in the canton and 10 percent of eligible voters nationwide.
Continuous development
The Federal Chancellery wrote that the focus of the newly aligned test operation is on the continuous improvement of the systems. Security must be continuously developed and strengthened. Findings from practice should also be used.
According to the Federal Chancellery, the full verifiability of the e-voting system is important for the security of e-voting: it makes it possible to detect and respond to any manipulation of the electronically cast votes using verification codes and mathematical proof.
Electronic voting and elections are repeatedly requested by Swiss citizens abroad who want to vote in their own country. The reason is that, depending on where you live, the ballot envelopes arrive so late that there is not enough time to return the completed ballots on time.
However, the electronic route would also make it easier for blind and partially sighted people to participate in voting and elections. The Swiss Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired welcomed the Federal Council’s decision to prepare new tests after the break.
(sda/cpf)
Source: Watson
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
