The Confederation is preparing the ground to authorize limited trials of electronic signature collection, for initiatives and referendums. The Federal Council decided this on Wednesday based on a report which recommends moving forward in stages.
The analysis, requested by Parliament, presents the opportunities and risks of electronic signature collection on organizational, technical, legal and institutional levels. The Federal Council has instructed the Federal Chancellery to carry out a preliminary project, with a view to limited practical tests of digital harvesting, we read in a press release.
The current system for collecting signatures, based on paper, presents potential for modernization, notes the report, which takes into account recent cases of alleged falsification of signatures for initiatives at the federal level. In the context of the scandal, the Chancellery recently held a round table with a view to guaranteeing greater transparency in the collection of signatures.
>> On this subject, read: What is this story about fraudulent signatures?
New risks
But “the digital model presents new risks and its reliability and the trust that the public is likely to place in it depend to a very large extent on its design,” notes the Federal Council. In particular, it will be necessary to place particular emphasis on the technical means of control which could be implemented without compromising the secrecy of the vote, continues the report.
Electronic harvesting would also involve a partial transfer of skills compared to the current system. Responsibility would pass from the initiative committee to the operator of the harvesting platform, which should be entrusted to a public body. Municipalities will continue to keep voter registers and the collection of paper and digital signatures must coexist.
The report concludes that it is impossible to determine the effects of electronic signature collection on the use of popular rights without carrying out practical experimentation. The preliminary project of the Federal Chancellery must be carried out with the assistance of the cantons, municipalities, interested actors from political circles and civil society and specialist circles.
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