Citizens in Geneva (Switzerland) will be able to take part in cantonal and local ballots online instead of going to the polls or posting their ballot sheet. With more than 70 % in favour, voters decided, last February 8, to enshrine electronic voting in the constitution – making Geneva the first of Switzerland's 26 cantons to do so.
Robert Hensler, Chancellor of the Geneva Government said the result showed the popular support for e-voting, which will be introduced in 2010. The cantonal government and parliament said e-voting would help increase turnout and help Swiss expatriates to make their voices heard in political decisions. Trials with online voting have taken place since six years in the Geneva region, as well as in two other cantons. On a national level the authorities are planning further tests until 2011 with up to ten per cent of the electorate. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, representing about 700,000 Swiss expatriates, has been promoting the introduction of e-voting.
Paradoxically, says the swiss journalist Frédéric Julliard, things are now serious. We have to consider in the future law legitimate doubts to technical incomprehensible to most people. "Caution and patience are the best allies of Internet voting. The generalization should be step by step, continuously improving the technical processes. That is the price that e-voting could fulfill its most important role: promote participation in the democratic process, especially among young people."
