Most Swiss Abroad won’t be able to vote online in 2027 federal election

The four cantons that have begun trials of electronic voting are using the system developed by the Swiss Post. Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott

Only a handful of cantons are likely to have an online voting system for the next federal elections, according to a survey by SWI swissinfo.ch. Six years after an initial pilot project, four cantons have resumed e-voting trials, while six others are considering doing so. 

The more than 230,000 Swiss Abroad on the electoral register must still be patient before they can exercise their political rights via the internet. “At the rate we’re going, it will be some 30 years before the entire Swiss electorate can vote online,” says political scientist Sean Müller. 

E-voting came to a halt in 2019, when the Swiss government put an end to the pilot project running in some cantons for security reasons. The nine cantons that were offering e-voting to all their electorate or just to the diaspora had to stop.

The current relaunch of the digital voting platform is still modest, as shown by a SWI swissinfo.ch survey of all 26 cantons. Only four cantons – Basel City, St Gallen, Thurgau and Graubünden – have resumed trials. 

The trials are not open to the entire electorate of these cantons, as the federal government has limited them to maximum 10% of the whole Swiss electorate and 30% of the cantonal electorate. However, these quotas do not apply to the Swiss Abroad or to people with disabilities. These two categories can cast an unrestricted online vote in cantons that have introduced e-voting.   

Six other cantons are planning to introduce e-voting. Lucerne and Geneva are due to launch trials in 2026. Neuchâtel has also initiated a project, while discussions are under way in Jura, Aargau and Nidwalden.

Financial constraints

A majority of cantons – 16 out of 26 – currently have no concrete plans for electronic voting. There are many reasons for this, but financial constraints are the most frequently cited.

The small canton of Uri, for example, believes that such a system is not viable for its fewer than 30,000 voters. “We need solutions that can be financed and implemented by the smaller cantons,” says Adrian Zurfluh, deputy director of Uri’s cantonal chancellery.

Canton Valais also says it has decided to postpone the introduction of e-voting “especially because of the cost of implementation and operation”.

Sean Müller thinks one solution would be to centralise development of an electronic voting system. “The federal chancellery could create a national system and make it available to the cantons free of charge,” he says. This would make it possible to unify standards while reducing costs.

The Swiss constitution, however, makes it the cantons’ responsibility to organise ballots. The federal chancellery points out that its role is limited to coordination and monitoring. The government contributes to development costs, but operating costs remain the cantons’ responsibility.

Other priorities

Several cantons say they have decided to prioritise other digitisation projects, particularly the collection of electronic signatures. These cantons include Basel Country.“We are focusing on digitising the electoral register and are preparing to start collecting electronic signatures,” explains cantonal chancellor Nic Kaufmann.

Sean Müller says this prioritisation is linked to a scandal concerning falsified signatures. The scandal came to light last autumn, when media revealed that commercial companies were suspected of having falsified signatures for popular initiatives. “The affair caused a loss of confidence in the current system,” Müller says. “There is now a lot of pressure to digitise collection of signatures, but this should also encourage the development of e-voting.”

Nevertheless, doubts remain about the reliability of electronic voting. Canton Zug, for example, has decided not to develop such a system, believing that there are still security flaws. It fears that introduction of e-voting would undermine public confidence in the traditional channels – voting at the ballot box and by post.

Müller considers these concerns legitimate. “At the moment, if you wanted to tamper with the vote, you would have to target several municipalities and manipulate the vote count or transmission of results. With e-voting, a single well-targeted attack could suffice,” he says, calling for better public information to boost confidence in e-voting.

The federal chancellery says security of the system developed by Swiss Post – used in the pilot cantons – is an absolute priority, and the system is subject to rigorous, regular checks by Swiss Post itself, independent experts and commissioned hackers. The audit reportsExternal link are published on its website for transparency.

Growing impatience

Canton Zurich, on the other hand, would like to move faster. The cantonal government has decided not to launch a new trial phase, considering that unnecessary. It would like to see e-voting introduced for everyone, not limited to just a small proportion of the electorate. Stephan Ziegler, the canton’s head of voting and elections, says the current conditions for e-voting do not make it very attractive. 

Müller understands the impatience. “At some point, we’ll have to stop testing and come up with a solution that everyone can use,” he says.

But this will not be done in time for the 2027 federal elections. Only four cantons – St Gallen, Graubünden, Lucerne and Geneva – think they will be able to offer e-voting to some of their electorate in the next federal elections. Three others – Basel City, Thurgau and Neuchâtel – believe it could be feasible.

Müller thinks this shows a lack of political will. “I can’t see any real enthusiasm among the general public either,” he says. He also regrets that the federal chancellery is not doing more to promote e-voting.

The chancellery says it is “committed, within the framework of the legal possibilities, to promoting trials of electronic voting”. However, it stresses that it is up to the cantons to decide whether they want to offer this additional service to their electorate. 

The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), chaired by Filippo Lombardi (pictured), has been campaigning for over 20 years to make electronic voting available to the Swiss Abroad. Keystone / Ti-Press / Pablo Gianinazzi

OSA continues to fight

For more than two decades, the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) has been campaigning for the introduction of electronic voting for the Swiss Abroad. This would make it easier forthem to take part in elections, particularly in countries where voting materials do not arrive on time.

In a written statement, the OSA welcomes the gradual expansion of trials and considers that the development of Swiss Post’s system is a step in the right direction. “However, it would be desirable for more cantons to take part in trials,” it writes. “The more cantons take part, the more effectively the Swiss Abroad will be able to exercise their political rights.”

The OSA intends to continue engaging with parliamentarians and the federal authorities to make e-voting a standard voting method.

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Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Adapted from French by Julia Crawford/ts