Swiss Post’s e-voting system pulled for May votes
The e-voting system operated by Swiss Post will not be available for nationwide votes on May 19. This is the consequence of “critical errors” found during a public intrusion test, the Federal Chancellery and Swiss Post announced on Friday.
The Federal Chancellery said in a statementExternal link it would review the licensing and certification procedures for e-voting systems. It added that it had no indication that these flaws had resulted in votes being manipulated in previous ballots.
Swiss Post’s e-voting system had been in use in four cantons: Basel City, Fribourg, Neuchâtel and Thurgau.
The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad said on FridayExternal link it was deeply disappointed by the news, describing it as a blow against online voting “and thus a denial of the democratic rights of the Swiss Abroad”.
The verified defect concerns individual verifiability, described by the Federal Chancellery as a “key component” of Swiss Post’s existing e-voting system. Individual verifiability allows the voter to verify that the system has correctly registered their vote.
The e-voting system developed and used by canton Geneva is not affected by this flaw. The six cantons using that system – Aargau, Bern, Geneva, Lucerne, St Gallen and Vaud – have therefore been authorised to use it for the votes on May 19External link.
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