Brexit, Trump and e-voting

Donald Trump and WEF founder Klaus Schwab. Visits to Davos from US presidents are like London buses: none for nearly 20 years and then two in a row. Keystone

Almost every article published by swissinfo.ch contains a percentage, an age, an amount of money or some other figure. Here’s a round-up of the most interesting statistics to appear in the past week’s stories.

Monday

6

The European Commission offered the Swiss stock exchange access to its markets for another six months. This allows Switzerland to hold a consultation process on a proposed “framework agreement” treaty to govern future ties between the two parties. 

Tuesday

3,000

This is the number of politicians, business leaders and representatives of science, culture and civil society who attend the World Economic Forum’s annual showpiece in Davos every year. US President Donald Trump confirmed he would be among their number for a second year in a row.

Wednesday

300

More than 300 successful trials on e-voting have been carried out in Switzerland over the past 14 years. This has persuaded the government to draft a bill to make digital voting a permanent feature despite fears that such systems could be hacked. 

Thursday

77,500

This is the number of Swiss and British citizens living in each other’s country that have been granted a Brexit lifeline. The governments of both states said EU “free movement of persons” residency rights will continue to be honoured for anyone who relocates before Britain leaves the EU.  

Friday

63%

Nearly two-thirds of voters say they are likely to support an initiative from environmentalists to limit urban sprawl in Switzerland. But with nine weeks to go before the vote, pollsters warn that people could still change their minds.