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.

Parliamentary elections in Lebanon Sunday 7 June reinforced the government’s position and handed the pro-Western 14-March coalition 71 seats. Their opponents, a coalition led by Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, won 57 seats. A big loser in the vote was former General Michel Aoun, a Christian who had aligned himself with Hezbollah. He has stated that he will work with the majority.

Some saw President Obama’s conciliatory speech in Cairo, Egypt last week as an important factor in voters’ decisions, denying hardliners the possibility to demonize the United States, according to the New York Times.  NYT, Le Monde, Now Lebanon