E-Voting

E-voting - voting online via the internet - is part of the Swiss e-government strategy, which entails close collaboration between the Confederation and the cantons. Since 2004, 15 cantons have offered internet voting to a limited part of their electorate in over 300 trials. The Confederation and cantons have followed the principle of ‘security before speed’. In Switzerland, e-voting is only permitted if strict requirements under federal law are met.

Current situation

At the moment, the cantons of Basel-Stadt, St Gallen, Graubünden and Thurgau conduct trials with e-voting. The basic licences granted by the Federal Council are valid for a limited section of the electorate (see Media releases and Trials with e-voting).

The cantons are using Swiss Post's e-voting system with complete verifiability. The system and its operation are examined in independent examinations commissioned by the Federal Chancellery (see Examination of systems). In the process and as part of the continuous improvement process, existing need for action is identified and set out in a joint catalogue of measures by the Confederation and the participating cantons in consultation with Swiss Post (see Catalogue of measures by the Confederation and cantons). The Federal Chancellery monitors the implementation of measures as part of the future authorisation procedures.