Switzerland wants to test the collection of electronic signatures

Wednesday 20th November 2024 09:18 AM

Policy modernization –

The Confederation launches a pilot project to avoid falsification and modernize the collection of signatures for initiatives and referendums

Posted today at 3:07 p.m.

The current system for collecting signatures, based on paper, presents potential for modernization, notes the report, which takes into account recent cases of alleged forgery of signatures. (illustrative photo)

KEYSTONE/Anthony Anex

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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.

The analysis 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.

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.

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