A cold between the committees opposed to the Swiss E-ID

The filing of signatures against the new electronic identity (E-ID) threw a cold on Thursday depot between the three referendum committees. Part of the signatures were filed with the Chancellery, obviously without the consent of other organizations.

(Keystone-ATS) A committee made up of the friends of the Constitution, Aufrecht Schweiz and Verfassungsbündniss Schweiz filed 26,000 signatures to the Chancellery. He also filed 20,000 initials of the Pirate Party, respectively of the association “Referendum E-ID 2.0”.

“Appropriation of signatures”

Contacted by Keystone-ATS, president of the Pirate Party Jorgo Ananiadis said he was not aware of this deposit. He talked about “signatures appropriation” by other circles.

According to a document in possession of Keystone-ATS, the two members of the party responsible for the referendum, Nicole Rüegger and Jonas Sulzer, were removed from their functions two weeks ago. The two members informed incompletely or not at all of the main committee activities, the Pirate Party said.

According to current information, Ms. Rüegger and Mr. Sulzer filed the 20,000 signatures of the Pirate Party on the federal Chancellery on Thursday. But without the steering committee being aware, the Pirate Party said in a press release.

Speech

That’s not all. The Mass-Voll movement also feels cheated. He demanded that the federal Chancellery that she immediately returns her signatures to him. For its president Nicolas Rimoldi, forms collected by Mass-Voll were deposited without his agreement. “It’s illegal,” he told Keystone-Ats. His lawyers study a criminal complaint against the friends of the Constitution.

Questioned by the news agency, Remko Leimbach, president of Aufrecht Schweiz, contradicted this version. The 20,000 signatures collected by Mass-Voll and sent to its committee to be certified in packages have not yet been deposited.

No consensus on the form of deposit

The situation is confused. It seems clear that more than 40,000 signatures against the E-ID law were filed with the federal chancellery. For the referendum to be valid, 50,000 certified signatures are needed which, in this case, must be deposited until next Tuesday at the Federal Chancellery in Bern.

According to the written indications of the friends of the Constitution, more than 63,000 signatures have been harvested so far throughout Switzerland. “A joint signatures was scheduled for next Tuesday,” Rimoldi told the news agency. The 20,000 missing signatures will be deposited next Tuesday.

Second possible vote

The arguments put forward by the various opponents against the ID are somewhat relegated to the background due to the disagreements around the deposit of signatures. Several organizations claim the referendum.

It remains to be seen whether the fight against E-ID will be successful a second time. As of next week, the federal chancellery will check the signatures and indicate whether the referendum has formally succeeded. If so, the Federal Council will then fix the date of the vote.

The first attempt to introduce the E-ID had failed in the ballot boxes in March 2021. The project provided for entrusting the establishment of electronic identity documents to private individuals. Data protection concerns have tipped the scales in favor of no.

Last December, the Parliament approved the new law on electronic identity and stipulated that the Confederation would introduce proof of electronic identity recognized by the State. Subject to the referendum, this should be the case as soon as possible in the third quarter of 2026.