Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

POLITICS

Swiss government to reward hackers who can breach its electronic vote system

The Swiss government is offering digital pirates a huge fee if they can successfully get past the electronic voting system's defences.

Published: 8 February 2019 09:37 CET

Swiss government to reward hackers who can breach its electronic vote system

File photo: Frank-Peters/Depositphotos

The Swiss government has issued a 150,000 Swiss franc (US$149,790, €131,000) challenge to online hackers; break into our new generation electronic voting system and we'll reward you.

The federal chancellery announced a dummy run election will be held from February 25 to March 24 and invited anyone who wants to display their online piracy talents to sign up at https://onlinevote-pit.ch.

Labelled the E-Voting Public Intrusion Test, hackers have until 25th February to register for the project. According to the portal, the government is offering different sums for different tasks.

The biggest single prize, 50,000 Swiss francs (€43,000), will go to anyone who manages to manipulate the vote count without being detected.

They can then “try to manipulate the vote count, to read the votes cast, to violate voting secrecy or to bypass security systems,” it said in a statement.

Should test participants find ways of manipulating individual votes that are undetectable by voters and trusted auditors , or even a way to scale manipulation of votes that is undetectable by voters and trusted auditors, they could be rewarded with between between 30'000 50'000 Swiss francs (€26,000 – €43,000).

READ ALSO: Hackers linked to Russian government targeted Swiss chemical weapons experts

Other detections of voter manipulation or intrusion on a voter's privacy will be rewarded with smaller fees – the amount of the reward paid out will depend upon the level of intrusion achieved by each hacker.

The Swiss authorities hope this exercise will help assure, or perhaps improve, the security of the new generation electronic voting system.

Regularly called upon to take part in referendums and votes, many Swiss electors prefer to cast their ballots over several weeks by post at polling stations and, increasingly, online.

Electronic voting has been on trial in several Swiss cantons since 2004. Late last year the government launched an initiative to establish online voting as a third option nationwide within two years.

READ MORE: Federal council elections mark historic day for women in Swiss politics

Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Foreigners are not allowed to vote on national level anywhere in Switzerland.

Though there had been attempts in the past to change this rule, the latest such move was turned down by legislators in 2022.

However, five cantons are permitting foreign residents to cast their votes in local referendums and elections: Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Jura. Conditions vary from one canton to another, but in all cases a certain length of stay and a residence permit are required.

(In Zurich, a similar move was rejected in 2023).

Of the five cantons, only Neuchâtel and Jura authorise foreign residents to vote on cantonal level in addition to communal one; in the others, they can cast municipal ballots only.

Additionally, three other cantons have similar laws on their books, but they this legislation remains mostly inactive.

Basel-City, Graubünden, and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden have authorised their communes to introduce the right to vote, the right to elect, and the right to be elected for their non-Swiss residents.

However, only few of the communes in these cantons have actually introduced these measures.

Wait…Geneva’s foreigners already have the right to vote?

Yes, they have had this right since 2005, but only on municipal level.

However, this could change on June 9th, when Geneva residents will go to the polls to weigh in on an initiative launched by the trade unions and political left, calling for foreigners who have lived in the canton for at least eight years, to be able to vote and stand as candidates for political offices at the cantonal level.

This ‘upgrade’ to the cantonal voting rights is important, supporters argue, because it would enable foreigners to have more political impact.

“Municipal votes are quite rare, and the issues at stake are relatively limited,” the initiative committee said.

Therefore, “access to the cantonal vote will allow these same people to express their views on wider subjects that affect them on a daily basis.”

Is this measure likely to be accepted?

No reliable forecasts exist at this point.

And while foreigners constitute nearly 40 percent of Geneva’s population — the highest proportion in Switzerland — it will be up to Swiss citizens to decide on the outcome.

However, some members of the Geneva parliament are urging the ‘no’ vote on June 9th.

“No canton, no country, provides such generous rights to their foreigners,” the MPs from the centre parties pointed out in an interview with Tribune de Genève over the weekend.

(Neuchâtel and Jura allow voting, but not standing for election, at cantonal level).

“The only path for foreigners to obtain full political rights is through naturalisation,” the MPs added.

Url copied to clipboard!