Canton Bern to review participation in e-voting trials

The canton of Bern is to examine participation in e-voting pilot trials. The cantonal parliament passed a motion to this effect on Tuesday.
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The motion by the parliamentary fraction of the Centre Party called for the canton to take part in e-voting trials to which a limited number of voters are admitted.
E-voting allows citizens to take part in votes and elections online via the internet. The federal government stipulates that a maximum of 30% of voters in a canton may be admitted to e-voting and a maximum of 10% throughout Switzerland.
These quotas are far from exhausted, said motion author André Roggli. “That’s why the canton of Bern could also take part and gain valuable experience.” It should therefore take part in the Swiss Post pilot scheme, he said.
+ Is e-voting making any progress in Switzerland?
The Centre group argued that the young population in particular should be activated with e-voting. It would also offer Swiss citizens abroad and people with disabilities new opportunities to vote.
“There is no need to go to the polling station or the nearest letterbox. This is entirely in the spirit of a modern and digital Switzerland,” the group said. It would also be an ecological contribution if voting documents no longer had to be sent out.
Government is cautious
At the moment, it is best to take things carefully and not rush into anything, said State Secretary Christoph Auer. “It is a sensible position to continue to observe and keep at it.”
The cantonal government had announced in advance that it did not want to “make a binding decision or definitively reject e-voting trials at this point in time” and therefore requested that the Council accept the motion as a postulate. It would then only have to examine the matter. The Centre Group ultimately agreed to this procedure.
The Council followed the government’s lead and accepted the postulate by 98 votes to 51 with six abstentions.
+ Swiss Abroad: e-voting doesn’t make up for frustrations
Re-introduction takes time
Swiss Post currently holds the basic authorisation for e-voting trials. A study commissioned by the cantonal government revealed that the reintroduction of e-voting would take around three-and-a-half years.
Such a system was already in operation once in canton Bern. Until 2019, it used canton Geneva’s e-voting system for Swiss citizens living abroad before Geneva discontinued the system.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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