What Happened to Swiss E-voting Pilot?

Switzerland embarked on its journey with electronic voting in 2003, with the canton of Geneva conducting the first trial. Over the next decade and a half, the number of cantons participating in e-voting trials grew, reaching 15 by 2019, with systems like CHVote (developed by Geneva) and sVote (from Swiss Post, initially by Scytl) in use. The primary motivations for adopting e-voting included reducing costs, speeding up ballot counting, and increasing voter turnout, especially for Swiss citizens residing abroad who often face challenges with postal voting.

A major turning point occurred in 2019 when significant security concerns led to a nationwide halt of e-voting trials. The canton of Geneva withdrew its system due to high costs in November 2018, and critically, researchers discovered severe security flaws in Swiss Post's system in March 2019, compromising its individual and universal verification mechanisms. This led the Federal Council to stop recognizing e-voting as an official 'third way' to vote, and Swiss Post subsequently scrapped its existing system, although it pledged to develop a new, more secure version.

Following this setback, the Swiss government initiated a comprehensive redesign of the e-voting trial phase, emphasizing 'security before speed,' effective control, increased transparency, and closer collaboration with the academic community. A new legal framework, including revised ordinances, came into force on July 1, 2022. Swiss Post developed a new, fully verifiable e-voting system at its cryptography center in Neuchâtel, which underwent extensive independent examinations, bug bounty programs, and public intrusion tests since 2021.

In March 2023, the Federal Council granted initial authorization for the redesigned Swiss Post system to be used in trials in the cantons of Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen, and Thurgau. Graubünden joined in November 2023, with its trials commencing in March 2024. These trials are limited to a section of the electorate, primarily Swiss citizens abroad and, in some cases, people with disabilities. The Federal Council renewed these basic licenses in June 2025, extending them until June 6, 2027, indicating a continued cautious but committed approach to e-voting.

However, the path remains challenging. On March 8, 2026, during national referendums, the e-voting pilot in Basel-Stadt suffered a critical failure: 2,048 electronic votes, cast by Swiss abroad and disabled voters, could not be decrypted and remained inaccessible to counters. This incident, attributed to a problem with the canton's access to the system rather than the Swiss Post system itself, led Basel-Stadt to suspend its e-voting pilot until the end of December 2026 and launch a criminal investigation. While the Federal Chancellery confirmed that other cantons' e-voting operations were unaffected, this event has reignited the fundamental debate about the security and reliability of electronic voting in Switzerland.