From Switzerland, for Switzerland
The cantons have identified a growing need among the public for an electronic voting system. Swiss Post is therefore continuing to develop its future e-voting system at its IT site in Neuchâtel – independently of its former technology partner Scytl. In 2021, it plans to offer the cantons a fully verifiable system.
In April 2020, Swiss Post acquired all rights to the source code required for independent further development from its former technology partner Scytl. “We have taken the concerns expressed in the public debate about international suppliers seriously,” says Denis Morel, Head of E-voting, explaining this move. “This allows us to offer the cantons a future solution that was developed in Switzerland and for Switzerland.”
Cantons to decide on launch
The system is intended to be ready for use by the cantons and to meet the Confederation’s requirements in full during the course of 2021. Swiss Post’s new e-voting system will be the first system in Switzerland in which votes are entirely verifiable (universal verifiability). The cantons themselves will decide if and when to provide their voters with the electronic voting solution.
Transparency and outside perspective
Swiss Post is continuing to develop the e-voting system with its own resources at its IT site in Neuchâtel. At the same time, Swiss Post is strengthening its collaboration with Swiss universities of applied sciences, traditional universities and independent experts. The IT community is also closely involved, performing a critical review of the system and reporting improvements. Swiss Post will publish source code, logs and system documentation for this purpose in 2021.