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Internet-based platforms allowing for C2G (citizen to government) transactions, such as internet voting or other services proposed by online governmental portals, must be able to correctly identify the citizen who tries to conclude the transaction. That’s the identification and authentication problem. Continue reading
Transparency is becoming an increasingly important issue for the public and the electoral authorities. Recent federal and cantonal laws on transparency of the activities of the administrations, as well as a certain degree of suspition towards internet voting, in some small but influential circles (IT professionals) have put transparency on the table. So, how transparent will the use of technology in electoral practice going to be in 2013? A look into the crystal ball shows some interesting trends. Continue reading
Digital handling of information requires standardized data. This is particularly necessary if data from different sources are to be collated, compared, merged and so on. In a Confederation of States like Switzerland where Cantons (States) enjoy important powers in the field of political rights so that electoral practice and its underlying data varies from Canton to Canton (in decentralized Cantons, even from a Commune to another), standards are especially important. Continue reading
Balance (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Nothing summarizes better the contradictory feelings towards introducing internet voting than developments in Canton Vaud. A few years ago a motion signed by cantonal MPs from almost all political parties asked for prohibition of internet voting in the canton. Later the motion was transformed into a postulate which is less binding (for a summary see last month’s report of the ad hoc parliamentary commission on some modifications in the cantonal law on political rights). Continue reading
On January 30, 2012 the OSCE/ODIHR, published its election assessment mission report on the federal elections that took place on October 23, 2011. The report highlighted the vitality of the Swiss democracy and underlined the impact of decentralization on regional variations in electoral practice. ODIHR proposed some measures to harmonize practices. Almost half of the proposals relate to internet voting, which was used, for the first time in a federal election, by four cantons. Continue reading
When launching this blog one of the big questions I was faced to was – where to start? Which event do I want to highlight as THE number one post? Electronic information processing is increasingly present in the Swiss electoral practice (hence the underlined “el” in the title of this blog). So, do I start with Internet voting – the flagship project, or e-collecting – the next big challenge? Do I want to underline digital identification – which holds one of the keys to developments in this field, or the new quest for transparency ? The first post has to be an actual story and a comprehensive and representative one. Ideally it should also give a taste of posts to come. Continue reading
