Swiss Abroad say ‘yes’ to electronic identity

Swiss abroad: 'yes' to electronic identity Keystone-SDA

The Council of the Swiss Abroad, meeting today in Bern, passed a resolution in favour of the new Electronic Identity Act (Id-e), which will be put to the vote on September 28.

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The body, which represents more than 826,000 Swiss citizens living outside Switzerland, emphasises that the Id-e is crucial for simplifying access to administrative services, which is often hampered by geographical distance, time zones and bureaucracy.

According to the Council, the creation of a state digital identity is a key step in developing e-government and paving the way for new forms of political participation, such as e-voting and online collection of signatures for initiatives and referendums. Such tools would allow expatriates to exercise their political rights in a simpler, safer and more modern way.

The first meeting of the new legislature was attended by more than one hundred delegates from all over the world, welcomed by National Council President Maja Riniker. Of the 120 Council members, 71 were newly appointed.

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Translated from Italian by DeepL/ds

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