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Referendum committee calls for e-ID vote in Switzerland to be cancelled

Referendum committee calls for e-ID vote to be cancelled
Referendum committee calls for e-ID vote to be cancelled Keystone-SDA

The referendum committee against the law on digital identity (e-ID), which was narrowly approved on Sunday, called on Monday for the vote to be annulled. It claims that the result was influenced by illegal interference by Swisscom, which is controlled by the state.

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The committee lodged its appeal on September 22. According to the committee, Swisscom donated CHF30,000 ($38,000) to a committee in favour of the e-ID and asked a senior manager to publicly promote the project.

The referendum committee regards Swisscom’s involvement in the campaign as a flagrant violation of the freedom to vote guaranteed by the Federal Constitution. Companies close to the government are bound by political neutrality and must not influence the democratic process through unilateral interventions.

+ Five lessons from the Swiss voter acceptance of e-ID

Adapted from German by DeepL/jdp

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