Swiss Review 5/2019

Swiss Review / September 2019 / No.5 28 news.admin.ch E-voting currently on hold – testing process to be reoriented Electronic voting has proved popular so far, particularly among Swiss Abroad. Unfortunately, it is currently out of operation. Until the beginning of this year, e-voting was possible in ten cantons – courtesy of two platforms developed by Swiss Post and the canton of Geneva. Nowboth these systems are out of operation. Why is this the case? The canton of Geneva had already intimated last year that it would no longer continue developing its e-voting platform– before announc- ing in June 2019 that the systemwould no longer be availablewith im- mediate effect. Swiss Post wanted to roll out its new and fully verifiable e-vot- ing system in 2019. In February of this year, it disclosed the source code and put the system through resilience testing (also known as a ‘public intrusion test’). Although the trial was a success, test par- ticipants discovered serious flaws in the source code affecting both the existing and new system. Swiss Post therefore decided to pull the existing system and focus onmaking improvements to the new one, which it intends to offer to the cantons for piloting from 2020. The Federal Chancellery announced a review after news of the flaws in the Swiss Post systemcame to light inMarch 2019. Shortcom- ings requiring analysis also include weaknesses in relation to the li- censing and certification procedures. However, the Federal Chancel- lery has no indication that the identified flaws have resulted in votes being manipulated in previous ballots. In light of these developments, Switzerland currently offers no e-voting. E-voting not yet a regular voting channel In 2017, the Federal Council initiated efforts to establish e-voting as the third regular voting channel – alongside ballot-box voting and postal voting. The plan was to push through a partial revision of the Political Rights Act in order to simplify the licensing procedures and regulate the most important requirements in law, namely the verifi- ability of votes cast and how the result is reached, the transparency of the systems, and accessibility. But there is now a delay. Consultations have revealed that a clear ma- jority of cantons and political parties welcome the introduction of e-voting in principle. The Conference of Cantonal Governments as well as 19 cantons support e-voting being intoroduced into regular operation. However, most of the political parties in particular believe that now is not the right time to take this step. Consequently, the Fed- eral Council announced in June that e-voting would remain in its pi- lot phase and that the testing process would be reoriented by the end of 2020 in consultation with the cantons. E-voting continues to be regarded as an important service for vot- ers. The aim is to establish stable operations using the latest genera- tion of systems. Other measures include extending independent au- dits, increasing transparency and trust, and encouraging greater academic input. Requirements and processes are currently being re- viewed and redefined for this purpose. (EDA) Consular services anywhere, conveniently on your mobile devices Kenya (2019) www.fdfa.admin.ch ✆ from Switzerland +41 800 24 7 365 ✆ from abroad +41 58 465 33 33 E-Mail: helpline@eda.admin.ch Skype: helpline-eda www.eda.admin.ch/reisehinweise ✆ from Switzerland +41 800 24 7 365 ✆ from abroad +41 58 465 33 33 www.twitter.com/travel_edadfae Online registration for Swiss citizens travelling abroad www.fdfa.admin.ch/itineris App available for free for iOS and Android Travel advice Plan well. Travel well.