LUGANO, TICINO – The annual congress of the 700,000 Swiss who live abroad, often referred to as the Fifth Switzerland, is putting its weight behind a push for more widespread electronic voting. Some 135,000 Swiss abroad are registered to vote, but the group argues that more citizens abroad will register and vote if electronic voting is an option.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – A new federal commission to encourage and develop electronic voting throughout Switzerland has met for the first time. Four federal officials and eight from cantons will oversee the gradual expansion of electronic voting. Cantons Geneva, Neuchatel and Zurich began developing their own electronic systems in 2004 and there are now 13 cantons which use electronic voting, but with a variety of systems that will need to be coordinated.
The first federal level votes electronically will take place in October when 22,000 Swiss Abroad will be able to vote in elections to the lower house of parliament. The last cantonal elections, in February 2011, saw 177,500 people use electronic votes.
Electronic voting inches ahead in Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The popular referendum in Switzerland Sunday 13 February failed to take firearms out of Swiss homes, but it gave a boost to electronic voting. Twelve cantons continued to test electronic systems for federal voting, and there were no problems, according to Bern.
The turnout for potential electronic voters was low, with fewer than 15 percent of the 177,500 citizens who are eligible to use these systems taking advantage of them for the 13 February vote.
About one-third of those eligible, 55,000 Swiss, live abroad.
The 12 cantons plan to continue implementing electronic voting. “A handful” of cantons have shown interest in offering voters an electronic option for the October 2011 federal elections and preparations are underway to help them, according to Bern.
More electonic voting should make it easier for more Swiss abroad to have their say
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Five additional cantons will be able to offer electronic voting to their citizens in November 2010 federal elections, bringing the total number to 12 cantons, nearly half of the country. The Swiss federal electoral commission announced the decision 8 September. The November ballots take electronic voting, in which Switzerland is a world leader, a step further: this is the first time a popular initiative or citizens-created referendum item, will be voted on.
Some 190,000 voters abroad, or 4.1 percent of the voting population, will be able to vote electronically. Voting from abroad has long posed a problem for the nearly 700,00 (close to 10 percent of the total population) Swiss citizens abroad because ballots are mailed three weeks before votes, which in many cases does not allow enough time to forward the material and have the voter return it for the deadline.
The cantons with electronic voting options in November are:
Corina Casanova, Swiss chancellor
Lucerne welcomes overseas Swiss for the weekend
Geneva and Lucerne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss federal chancellor, Corina Casanova, told delegates to the annual meeting of the Swiss Abroad Organization in Lucerne that they will all be able to vote electronically by 2015, using a system that will gradually be extended to cover voters registered in all cantons. Switzerland thus becomes a pioneer, with Estonia, of e-voting outside the country. Swiss overseas citizens registered in Geneva will be the first to test the new system, in November 2009: Geneva, along with Neuchatel and Zurich, have been testing e-voting since 2003.
