E-voting

Elections and referendums at the click of a mouse

With e-voting, Swiss Post allows voters to cast their votes electronically in elections and referendums. The solution was introduced in the canton of Fribourg in autumn 2016, with Neuchâtel to follow in 2017.

Voting in the future will no longer be only at the ballot box or by post, but increasingly online – with the Swiss Post e-voting solution. Incorrectly completed forms, illegible handwriting or omitted signatures are a thing of the past – they are simply not possible on the e-voting platform. Swiss nationals resident abroad no longer have to worry about their reply envelopes getting lost or arriving too late.

End-to-end encryption

“Swiss Post already enables postal voting. Now we are also working to ensure the secure electronic transport of ballots,” says Denis Morel, Head of E-voting. To guarantee data security and protection, Swiss Post uses the latest cryptographic technologies, such as end-to-end encryption. The solution was developed in collaboration with Scytl, the world’s leading e-voting solution provider. The company is the world market leader in verification and encryption technologies for e-voting. The solution is installed, operated and controlled by Swiss Post at its own ISO- and TÜV-certified data centers. And only the cantonal electoral commission can open the ballot boxes to decrypt and count the votes.

The solution in use

The Swiss Post solution was used for the first time by the Canton of Fribourg on election day in November 2016. The Canton of Neuchâtel used the system for the first time for the federal votes in February 2017. By 2018, the solution will have been developed to the extent that all eligible voters will in principle be able to vote and take part in elections online.