The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) has handed in a petition with more than 11,000 signatures calling for electronic voting to be made available to all Swiss living overseas by 2021.
“This voting method is often the only way that the Swiss Abroad can exercise their political rights, as voting documentation sent by post often reaches them too late,” the OSAExternal link said in a statement.
In all, 11,492 signatures were collected online from 150 countries since the petition was launched in August. This is the equivalent of almost 7% of the Swiss abroad who are registered to vote, the OSA said. This was more than the 10,000 expected.
E-voting in Switzerland was dealt a blow on November 28 when canton Geneva announced it would shelve its system due to financial reasons. The OSA had reacted with disappointment to the news, saying that people would assume that the move was linked to doubts over the security of e-voting.
A recent test by hackers did find security vulnerabilities in the Geneva system, but according to Swiss public radio RTS this was not the reason for the cantonal authorities wanting to ditch its e-voting platform.
Geneva’s decision leaves only one other e-voting project still standing in Switzerland: the one run by Swiss Post.
The use of electronic voting in Switzerland has been making slow progress amid setbacks over security concerns. Over the past 15 years, more than 200 trials with e-voting have been carried out at nationwide and cantonal levels.
More
More
Swiss Abroad disappointed by Geneva’s stance on e-voting
This content was published on
The recent decision by canton Geneva to shelve its e-voting system could undermine citizens’ confidence in the system, says the Swiss Abroad.
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
COP29: Swiss NGOs call for strong financial support
This content was published on
Ahead of COP29, Swiss NGOs call for wealthy nations to pay $1,000 billion a year to help other countries solve climate problems.
Real Swiss wages likely to rise in 2025, says UBS bank
This content was published on
Higher wages and falling inflation are likely to boost Swiss purchasing power, which will be dragged back by rising health premiums.
This content was published on
Switzerland has a new tectonic map at a scale of 1:500,000, containing updates to geometry, distribution and nomenclature of the tectonic units.
This content was published on
Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri, known for his artworks using leftover food with dirty cutlery and crockery, has passed away in Vienna at the age of 94.
Climate change tipped to alter Swiss avalanche patterns by 2100
This content was published on
Climate change is expected to result in fewer avalanches overall in Switzerland but to increase the danger of wet snow avalanches by 2100.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.