More than 75,000 expat Swiss cast electronic votes as more cantons introduce the option

Several Swiss cantons introduced electronic voting options for the pension reform vote on September 24th, adding to the list of cantons that now allow electronic ballots.

Published: 25 September 2017 16:25 CEST

More than 75,000 expat Swiss cast electronic votes as more cantons introduce the option

Photo: lisafx/Depositphotos

Voters in and from the Swiss cantons of St Gallen and Aargau were able to cast their votes electronically, in the September 24th vote on pension reforms, for the first time in two years.

Both cantons had offered Swiss citizens resident abroad the option between 2010 and 2015 but had then suspended electronic voting completely.

The new electronic voting system was trialled in four St Gallen municipalities – Goldach, Kirchberg, Rapperswil-Jona and Vilters-Wangs, communicated the Swiss government in a statement.

The canton of Fribourg also trialled the electronic voting system in the municipality of Treyvaux.

During the September 24th 2017 election, 76,910 Swiss foreigners were able to vote electronically in the cantons of Bern, Lucerne, Fribourg, Basel-City, St. Gallen, Aargau, Neuchâtel and Geneva.

The cantons of Fribourg, Basel-City, St.Gallen, Neuchâtel and Geneva also made electronic voting available to 102,788 voters residing in Switzerland.