Switzerland

Articles about voting issues in the Swiss Confederation.

New study critical of e-voting systems being tested in Switzerland | swissinfo

Apr 302012
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Swiss e-voting systems lack transparency and are vulnerable to attack by malevolent software, a study has found. The authorities are looking for solutions but officials point out that there is no such thing as absolute security, even with the traditional ballot paper vote. With the systems used so far in electronic voting trials “citizens cannot verify if their vote has been registered and counted correctly. They are obliged to trust the administration and authorities completely,” Eric Dubuis, information technology professor at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, told swissinfo.ch. Under the mandate of the Federal Chancellery, Dubuis co-authored a study on verifiable e-voting systems – systems that allow the voter to trace all the steps of his or her vote and to check that there has been no manipulation and that the vote has been duly counted.  Read More »

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Switzerland Comments Off Topics: e-voting, electronic voting, Eric Dubuis, online voting, transparency

Expats pleased with e-voting, disappointed no candidates elected | swissinfo

Oct 252011
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The parliamentary elections on Sunday were both a success and failure for the large community of Swiss voters living abroad. On the one hand, electronic voting worked in the four cantons that introduced the system for expatriate voters. However, none of the Swiss abroad who stood for election were voted in.

“We are both delighted and grateful to the cantons for carrying out these tests and to the government for allowing them,” Rudolf Wyder, director of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), told swissinfo.ch. It was the first time that electronic voting was possible.

More than 3,500 expatriates registered to vote were able to benefit from e-voting in cantons Basel City, St Gallen, Graubünden and Aargau. That amounts to 53.1 per cent of the Swiss abroad who cast ballots in these cantons, the Federal Chancellery said on Monday. Read More »

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Switzerland Comments Off Topics: diaspora voting, e-voting, electronic voting, internet voting

OSCE monitors to observe Swiss elections | swissinfo

Oct 082011

Experts from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are coming to Switzerland to monitor this month’s federal elections.
Their two main focuses of attention will be electronic voting for voters living abroad, and campaign financing, according to a joint statement issued on Friday by the federal chancellery and the foreign ministry.

The experts are hoping to learn from the Swiss e-voting experience so as to be able to apply the lessons in younger democracies and to help develop new election technologies. However, the OSCE monitors determine their programme themselves and will only give the Swiss authorities operational details at short notice. Read More »

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Switzerland Comments Off Topics: e-voting, election cybersecurity, electronic voting, internet voting, OSCE

Vaud voters refuse to extend foreigner voting rights | swissinfo

Sep 052011
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A test case initiative in canton Vaud giving foreign residents the right to vote on cantonal issues and be elected to political office has been turned down.
Cantonal voters rejected the “Live and vote here” initiative by 68.9 per cent on Sunday. In most Swiss cantons foreign residents cannot vote at either communal or cantonal level, but a patchwork of exceptions exists.

If it had passed, the western canton would have become the first in Switzerland to give foreign residents full cantonal voting rights as well as the chance to stand for local parliament, government and cantonal Senate seats.

The initiative applied to foreigners who had lived in Switzerland for more than ten years and three years in canton Vaud. Since 2003 around 85,000 people fulfilling these requirements have been able to vote on commune level issues and to be elected to commune positions. Read More »

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Switzerland Comments Off Topics: voting rights

Cabinet approves more e-voting trials for expats. - swissinfo

Jun 232011

About 22,000 Swiss expatriates will be able to vote online in October’s parliamentary elections as part of ongoing trials with electronic voting.
Cabinet approved requests from four pioneering cantons – Basel City, St Gallen, Graubünden and Aargau – on Wednesday. In total these expat voters account for 0.4 per cent of the Swiss electorate.

It is the first time that ongoing trials with e-voting are being extended to federal elections, according to the Federal Chancellery. To date e-voting tests have been carried out in more than ten out of the 26 cantons for ballots on specific issues. Read More »

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Switzerland Comments Off Topics: e-voting, internet voting

Swiss women celebrate 40 years of suffrage | swissinfo.ch

Jun 082011
cabinet ministers Simonetta Sommaruga, Johann Schneider-Ammann, Micheline Calmy-Rey and Doris Leuthard

Swiss women have come a long way since 1971, the year they were granted the right to vote at the federal level. Exactly 40 years after their first chance to do so, around 125 representatives of the Swiss political, social and economic scenes celebrated the milestone in Bern on Monday.

On February 7, 1971, 66 per cent of Swiss men voted in favour of allowing women to vote as well. The first opportunity came on June 6 of that year – when nationwide issues included environmental protection and financial regulations.

Many women who remember that momentous year were at the Bernerhof on Monday to reminisce and discuss what still needs to be done. Read More »

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Switzerland Comments Off Topics: voting rights, women's vote

On 40th anniversary of women's voting rights in Switzerland, hurdles remain | WRS

Jun 072011

Forty years ago today women gained the right to vote in Swiss federal elections. Despite this development coming long after suffrage movements in other countries, a fair bit of resistance to female voters remained in Switzerland.

Political scientist and pollster Claude Longchamp told public television some difficulties still linger. (Audio link) Read More »

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Switzerland Comments Off Topics: voting rights, women's vote
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