Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Did you vote electronically on Sunday? More than 3,500 Swiss Abroad did – for the first time since 2019. The other big news today – UN International Day of Yoga – is that under-pressure Interior Minister Alain Berset said he would step down from government at the end of the year. To do more yoga, he says.
In the news: The increasing number of women on Swiss company boards, the decreasing position of Switzerland on the WEF’s latest Global Gender Gap Report, and one of the world’s most expensive houses.
- The proportion of women in the 100 largest listed Swiss companies (SPI 100) now stands at 30.8%, consultants Swipra said today. Last year the figure was 28.5%. This was also the first time that the legal requirement of at least 30% representation per gender, which will apply from 2026, had been met.
- Switzerland has fallen eight places – to 21st – in the annual gender equality index of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Switzerland’s performance is far behind that of Iceland, which remains the best performer. Out of the four main indicators, Switzerland came only 63rd for economic participation. Worse, it was ranked 102nd for gender parity in education and 115th in health.
- An Indian couple has spent around $200 million renovating a houseExternal link overlooking Lake Geneva that used to belong to Athina Onassis. This makes it one of the ten most expensive homes in the world.
Some 3,616 Swiss citizens abroad voted electronically in federal referendums on Sunday – for the first time since 2019. E-voting remains a core issue for the emigrant community, which is often frustrated by the slow arrival of postal ballots.
Swiss Abroad voters registered in cantons Basel City, St Gallen and Thurgau could cast their ballots online, in the first large-scale e-voting experiment since the technology was shelved due to security concerns. Following the 2019 discovery of a design flaw in its system, Swiss Post – the developer of the e-voting software – reviewed its technology before the Federal Chancellery announced in March 2023 that the three cantons could carry out a trial.
Over the past weeks several thousand Swiss citizens across the globe have therefore been able to benefit from the new system, which they could use to cast their ballots until midday (Swiss time) on Saturday, June 17.
The results now show that the participation rate in the three cantons concerned was higher than the average rate for Swiss Abroad voters as a whole. The possibility of e-voting complements rather than replaces the traditional postal voting system. Swiss Abroad registered in the three participating cantons could choose either method, but they largely opted for the online version.
Authorities in the three regions concerned said they were satisfied with the trial. “We received lots of positive comments about e-voting being an option again,” said Philipp Egger, head of IT and infrastructure in canton St Gallen. “For many Swiss living abroad, this is the only way they can be sure that their ballot arrives on time.”
If the cantonal authorities sounded satisfied, Swiss Abroad voters seemed delighted. “Hallelujah!” wrote one SWI swissinfo.ch reader, who goes by the username Rosendorfer. The e-voting system worked “without any problem, it was well explained, and the level of security was very high throughout the multi-stage process”, Rosendorfer wrote.
Another reader, Christa, was similarly enthused, saying: “the vote went smoothly, without any complications! And it’s safe, thanks to the many security codes. Thank you for giving us this option!”
Such reactions could go some way to reassuring those who remain reluctant to endorse e-voting due to its technological complexity. “I was able to vote ten days ago already in canton Thurgau,” said retired expat Hans Ulrich Lutz. “The process was very well explained, and easy to follow.”
The Swiss Abroad seem unanimous in saying that the trials should now be rolled out permanently. “I voted from southern Thailand,” wrote SWI swissinfo.ch reader Chrenhuek38. “I am very positive about it. I was able to do it all very quickly. It would be a big step forward and important for the future if this initiative was kept.” This opinion was shared by Ruth Kaufmann, who “hopes that e-voting will soon be introduced in all cantons”.
Rosendorfer also mentioned another advantage of e-voting: “it hugely boosts and even reactivates your link to the homeland, and your interest in it”.
More
Interior Minister Alain Berset is to step down at the end of the year and leave Switzerland’s multi-party cabinet after 11 years, he said today.
“It’s not a resignation, but it’s an announcement that I will not run again after the current legislative session,” he said at a press conference in Bern, referring to the Swiss federal elections due to be held in October. Click here for the full story, and Berset’s televised statement in English.
Berset, 51, is a member of the left-wing Social Democratic Party and as health minister during the Covid-19 pandemic he faced fierce criticism from some quarters for his role in enforcing lockdowns in the country. He has since come under closer scrutiny following allegations that his department leaked information to the media about buying vaccines before official announcements. Earlier this year he admitted in an interview that he had faced “unprecedented brutality”.
The native of Fribourg is one of Switzerland’s most colourful politicians and has attracted headlines for an alleged extra-marital affair that turned into blackmail and for a scrape when flying a light aircraft in France.
Only recently, he was standing defiant in the face of criticism, suggesting he would like to carry on at his post after this autumn’s elections. “There’s still so much to do. I have very large dossiers on the table that I want to finish,” he told Swiss public broadcaster, SRF, earlier this month when asked if he would stand for another term.
Today he told reporters he had no concrete plans after he leaves the cabinet other than yoga.
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