Swiss Abroad: e-voting doesn’t make up for frustrations

Voting material for the federal elections on October 22 © Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Swiss citizens who live abroad were able to vote electronically in three cantons in the federal elections on Sunday. For those registered in the other 23 cantons, postal voting continues to be a source of frustration.

“We live in Phuket, Thailand, and are delighted that canton Thurgau’s e-voting system works so well,” says Herbert Keller.

Swiss Abroad on the electoral registers of cantons Basel City, St Gallen and Thurgau were able to vote electronically in the federal elections on October 22.

This was the second time that these cantons have offered this voting channel, after the Federal Chancellery authorised the resumption of trials at the beginning of the year. The trials were halted in 2019 for security reasons.

Like Herbert Keller, many Swiss Abroad registered in the three cantons are enthusiastic. “We hope that this will continue to be the case and that we will be able to continue to vote by e-voting and thus be politically involved in our country of origin,” Keller adds.

“Rosendorfer”, from St Gallen, agrees: “The voting procedure is very simple […] I’d like to see it extended to the whole of Switzerland!”

What these two Swiss Abroad also point out is that e-voting helps maintain the link with Switzerland by offering its citizens the opportunity to be politically involved. In the three cantons that offer e-voting, an average of 60% of the electorate opted for electronic voting.

In Basel City, 1,431 Swiss citizens abroad voted by e-voting. In St Gallen the number was 1,498, and in Thurgau 541. In all, 3,470 people took part in the federal elections electronically.

While most Swiss Abroad have confidence in the system, some remain wary. Reader Kati Lyon-Villiger says she will vote electronically “when a secure system is put in place, provided that it is reliable, verified and verifiable”.

Falling turnout

Despite the introduction of e-voting, the turnout for the federal elections was lower than for the vote on June 18, when electronic voting was used for the first time. However, the number of people on the electoral register was slightly higher in the three cantons concerned (+0.13% in Basel City, +0.84% in St Gallen and +1.35% in Thurgau).

This comes as no surprise to Ariane Rustichelli, director of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA). “The turnout of Swiss Abroad at federal elections is always lower than for referendums,” she says.

According to Rustichelli, the diaspora does not necessarily know the candidates. What’s more, “much of the campaigning takes place in Switzerland and fails to reach the Swiss living abroad”.

No guarantees

While e-voting represents the Holy Grail of political participation for most Swiss Abroad, it doesn’t offer a guarantee of 100% voting.

This is borne out by the testimony of Erika and Walter Brand, who live in South Africa and exercise their political rights in canton Basel City. However, “over the past three years our family has not been able to take part in any elections or votes, because the documents always reach us after the vote”.

Although Basel City offers electronic voting, postal delays prevent the Brands from exercising their right to vote. The cantons continue to send voting material by post. Walter Brand is therefore calling for it to be sent “by diplomatic courier or, even better, digitally!”

Palpable frustration

At the OSA, Ariane Rustichelli laments a “well-known and expected problem”. As in previous ballots, many Swiss Abroad complained that they were unable to vote in Switzerland.

“I would very much like to use my right to vote,” wrote one from Paraguay, “but the voting material usually arrives one or two months after the deadline.”

Similar messages were received from the Philippines and South Africa, as well as from Argentina, which was also electing its parliament on Sunday. OSA Council member Alexia Berni was still waiting for her documents after the local polling stations closed.

Many of the 221,448 Swiss Abroad on the electoral register receive their documents on time. But often it is no longer possible or too expensive to send them back by post on time.

“In Thailand, we certainly received the documents ten days before the elections,” writes one reader. He immediately filled in the ballot paper and took it to the post office, where he was told that it would take at least four weeks for the post to arrive. Express delivery at a cost of CHF25 ($28) would guarantee delivery within ten to 14 days. “But I’m not going to pay that if I’m not even sure that my envelope will arrive in Switzerland on time.”

Waiting for confirmation

Some Swiss Abroad would like to receive confirmation from the canton when their envelope has arrived. This is what the person in charge of the electoral register of Swiss Abroad in canton Aargau does, for example, on request. “When explicitly requested, I confirm receipt by email,” explains Maria Bühlmann.

Unfortunately, Bühlmann often only receives the post on the Monday or Tuesday following the election.

Of the 2,186 votes received in Aargau from abroad, 103 were sent to Switzerland by private delivery services. “But this does have a price,” Bühlmann admits. A price that many Swiss Abroad are unable or unwilling to pay, judging by the reactions of our readers.

SWI swissinfo.ch journalist Balz Rigendinger explains how the Swiss Abroad vote differently:

Translated from French by Thomas Stephens