Ecusson de la République et du canton de Genève


REPUBLIQUE
ET CANTON
DE GENEVE

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e-voting

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

  1. Political rights
  2. Organisation of polling
  3. Internet voting
  4. Online voting is so simple
  5. Frequent problems
  6. Checking the voting site certificate
  7. I have voted but I would still like to know...
  8. Data protection
  9. I would also like to know

7. I have voted, but I would still like to know...

Who can vote online?

Due to the limits imposed by the Swiss Confederation, only 30% of the resident voters of each of the cantons involved can have access to online voting during federal ballots. To arrive at this 30%, the Geneva Cantonal Government selects some fifteen municipalities that represent roughly a third of the electorate. In these municipalities, all citizens can vote online without having to request it or register. The Swiss voters abroad are not included in the 30% cap.

For purely cantonal or purely municipal ballots, or a combination of the two, this limitation does not apply.

What about Swiss citizens who live abroad?

The amendment on 1st January 2008 of the federal law on the political rights of Swiss citizens living abroad opened up the possibility of voting online for expatriates. Geneva decided to offer e-voting to its voters abroad as of the popular vote of 27 September 2009.

However, the Federal Council limited access to this voting method to voters resident in the member countries of the European Union, in the European micro-states (Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City) or in one of the countries that is a signatory to the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies. The cryptography used in online voting is in fact considered as a dual-use technology. The countries that have ratified this arrangement are Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of South Africa, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States of America.

I have scratched the hologram that hides my password but I do not want to vote online. Can I still vote?

Yes, you can vote by post or by going to the polling station. In both cases we will check the electoral roll so that we can be sure you have not already voted.

Once I have voted can I get a receipt?

At the end of the voting procedure a screen is displayed confirming that your vote has been registered. The date and time of the registration are also given. However, you cannot obtain a receipt of the content of your vote.

Can the State see the content of my vote?

No. The State has no means of finding out the vote cast by a citizen. In e-voting, as in postal voting, information relating to users, on the one hand, and votes, on the other hand, is saved in separate files. Moreover, the encryption keys of the electronic ballot box are held by the Central Electoral Committee and not the government. Lastly, the electoral roll is anonymous: it does not contain names, only voting card numbers, which change at each ballot.

How are internet votes counted?

Votes cast by internet are stored in an encrypted electronic ballot box. When voting has closed the electronic ballot box is decrypted, using the keys held by the Central Electoral Committee. Its content is added to the ballot papers from the postal vote and the polling stations.

When can the results of online voting be obtained?

No results are published before midday on Sunday when the polling stations close. Then, the consolidated results are published on the State of Geneva website at the address www.ge.ch/votations as and when they are counted.

Last updated: April 2012