Swiss Post e-voting to operate from 2023

The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, SwissCommunity, welcomes the first audit of the Swiss Post e-voting system. It is extremely important to vote electronically, especially for Swiss Abroad. Voting papers are too easily lost or reach foreign destinations too late. Initial results of audit reports now confirm the system’s quality.   

Independent professionals from all over the world mandated by the Federal Administration and working in business and industry tested a beta version of the Post's electronic voting system from July 2021 to February 2022. In parallel, the Post invited ethical hackers and international cryptography experts to challenge the system’s beta version. This resulted in 130 audit reports.

The reviewers said the quality of the preliminary version of the e-voting system was good, although they also identified some deficiencies. All submitted analyses and findings on the public system documents mean that high-quality e-voting could be established in Switzerland.

The deficiencies noted by the reviewers relate to, for example, the cryptographic protocol that enables verification of users without breaching vote secrecy. The system will be even better documented and optimised following completion of the first round of audits. This marks the next development phase of the Post’s innovative project.

The launch of e-voting is scheduled for 2023. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad welcomes the rapid initiation of e-voting, as Swiss Abroad have been calling for it for several years.