E-voting enters the consultation phase
A few days ago, the Federal Council decided: Electronic voting is to be anchored as a third voting channel. The consultation process is now underway.
Electronic voting in Switzerland has been in a trial phase since 2004. In over 300 successful trials, a total of 15 cantons have enabled some of their voters to cast their ballots electronically. Now, e-voting is to be recognized as a regular voting procedure. The "Expert Group on Electronic Voting" has come to the conclusion that e-voting can be offered in a secure and trustworthy manner with fully verifiable systems. (cf. also "E-voting: democracy at risk?")
Safety before speed
The federal government and the cantons are committed to a gradual introduction of e-voting according to the motto "security before speed", as the Federal Council writes. On the one hand, e-voting should only be permitted in federal elections and votes if the strict security requirements under federal law are met. And on the other hand, the cantons and the voters themselves would decide whether they want to introduce or use electronic voting.
Key data of the consultation
The Revision template aims to create a broad legal basis for electronic voting. It anchors the most important principles for a trustworthy electronic voting procedure, which are currently regulated at ordinance level, in formal law. According to the Federal Council, the draft accordingly provides for the following aspects of electronic voting to be regulated at the level of the Federal Act on Political Rights (BPR):
- The complete verifiability* of the electronic election and voting process while maintaining the secrecy of the vote
- Transparency of the e-voting system and operational processes (esp. disclosure of source code).
- The certification of the system for electronic voting and operation
- The obligation of the cantons to continuously assess the risks associated with electronic voting
- The barrier-free design of the voting procedure
In addition, electronic voting will still require the approval of the Federal Council. The consultation on the draft revision will last until April 30, 2019.
Initial situation and further steps
Currently, e-voting is offered in ten cantons. In five cantons (FR, BS, SG, NE, GE), both Swiss voters abroad and domestic voters are admitted to the trials, while in the other cantons (BE, LU, AG, TG and VD) only voters residing abroad can vote electronically. Most of these cantons plan to extend the electronic voting channel to other domestic Swiss voters in the medium term. Some other cantons plan to introduce e-voting in the coming months or years. Swiss Post will soon make a fully verifiable system available, according to the announcement from Bern. According to the information, the source code of this system will be disclosed in the first quarter of 2019 and a public intrusion test will take place.
*Full Verifiability: Complete verifiability is to be included in the legal provisions as a central requirement for the electronic voting process. Complete verifiability means that systematic malfunctions resulting from software errors, human error or attempts at manipulation can be detected from the casting of the vote to the determination of the result thanks to independent means. Cryptographic evidence ensures that all votes remain traceable without violating the secrecy of the vote.
Source: Press release Bundesrat
