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While the cantons have a good deal of room for manoeuvre, the e-voting test at the national level is bound by narrower limits: 30% of the cantonal and 10% of the Swiss electorate may use e-voting. <\/p>\n
Keystone <\/p>\n
A computer glitch in canton Basel City meant 2,048 votes received electronically for Sunday\u2019s national votes could not be counted. All keys to the electronic ballot box failed. How serious is this incident?\n<\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
March 9, 2026 – 10:00\n<\/p>\n
In canton Basel City around 10,300 Swiss citizens living abroad who are entered in the electoral register can vote electronically. However, on March 8 their votes remained inaccessible to the counters \u2013 as did those of 30 voters with disabilities who were also able to participate in this way. They arrived in the electronic ballot box, but the Basel State Chancellery was unable to open them using the decryption code provided.<\/p>\n
+ More than 10,000 Swiss Abroad affected by Basel e-vote problems<\/a><\/p>\n The authorities announced on Saturday eveningExternal link<\/a> that all attempts to open the ballot box failed. \u201cThree USB sticks were used, all with the correct code, but none of them worked,\u201d Basel government spokesperson Marco Greiner told Swissinfo. <\/p>\n There were people at work for whom it had already worked countless times, he said. \u201cBut now it no longer works. It\u2019s really very strange.\u201d<\/p>\n Frustration among the diaspora<\/p>\n The Basel authorities emphasise that the error is not in Swiss Post\u2019s e-voting system but solely in Basel\u2019s access to it. Nevertheless, the incident has attracted attention. The Swiss Federal Chancellery also felt compelled to provide information External link<\/a>on Friday after the first notification from BaselExternal link<\/a>. \u201cThe e-voting system and in particular the encrypted votes are unaffected by this,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n For the Swiss Abroad from Basel, the frustration is great. Switzerland\u2019s e-voting ambitions have so far been driven by the problem of votes from abroad not reaching the Swiss ballot boxes in time or at all. E-voting was supposed to offer a solution to this problem. The fact that the same problem is now arising again is irritating.<\/p>\n For example, 20 MinutenExternal link<\/a> reports on a Swiss Abroad who tried to find an alternative voting option immediately after receiving the information from Basel. However, the canton informed her that this was no longer possible. \u201cThey are denying you the right to alternative documents. The will of the people is being disregarded,\u201d the woman complained to the canton, according to 20 Minuten.<\/p>\n The Federal Chancellery agrees: the political rights of voters whose votes cannot be counted are being violated, a spokesperson told the Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung (NZZ)External link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another Swiss Abroad who is affected asked on XExternal link<\/a>: \u201cWhat happens if the yes and no votes are a thousand votes apart?\u201d<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Swiss Abroad\n <\/p>\n Swiss Abroad: e-voting doesn\u2019t make up for frustrations <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Oct 24, 2023 <\/p>\n Despite e-voting being possible in three cantons, postal voting continues to prevent the Swiss Abroad from exercising their political rights. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Swiss Abroad: e-voting doesn\u2019t make up for frustrations No impact on results<\/p>\n For most voters, every vote counts. However, the authorities weren\u2019t worried that the result would be distorted: the 1,800 votes cast electronically on Friday accounted for 3.4% of the turnout at that time.<\/p>\n The canton is still leaving one option open. \u201cFor the time being and until the government announces the result, it is still possible to take the votes into account if the problem is resolved,\u201d the State Chancellery of Basel City wrote in a press releaseExternal link<\/a> on Sunday. \u201cFor this reason, the deadline of 13 days after the voting Sunday will be exhausted and publication of the result in the cantonal gazette will wait until the last possible date, March 21, 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Nevertheless, the debacle revitalised the fundamental debate on e-voting. Parliamentarian Balthasar Gl\u00e4ttli from the left-wing Green Party told the NZZ am Sonntag: \u201cIf one of the four votes was extremely close, it would have to be repeated.\u201d In order for the population to accept a result, everything would have to run smoothly, he said.<\/p>\n Franz Gr\u00fcter from the right-wing Swiss People\u2019s Party, who has long campaigned against e-voting, is calling for the Federal Chancellery to bury the project. Trust in democracy is at stake, and even minor mishaps would damage it, he said.<\/p>\n Electronic voting is currently being trialled in four cantons, with a limited number of voters. In addition to Basel, cantons Thurgau, Graub\u00fcnden and St Gallen are also on board. This is the second attempt to establish an e-voting system in Switzerland. The first attempt failed in 2019 after serious security flaws were discovered in the system in question.<\/p>\n For the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, a broader introduction of e-voting in Switzerland is a political priority. It has been campaigning for years for better participation of the Swiss diaspora.<\/p>\n The current system will not solve the problem, even if it works. This is because e-voting has so far only shortened the voting process for the Swiss Abroad. Authorisation codes and voting documents are still sent from Switzerland to citizens abroad by post \u2013 often far too late.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Swiss Abroad\n <\/p>\n Why can\u2019t voting papers be sent to the Swiss Abroad earlier? <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n May 25, 2021 <\/p>\n A quarter of Swiss citizens who live abroad struggle to return their voting papers in time. Unfortunately the obvious solutions are also illegal. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Why can\u2019t voting papers be sent to the Swiss Abroad earlier? Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Translated from German by AI\/ts<\/p>\n How we translate with AI<\/p>\n We use automatic translation tools, such as\u00a0DeepL\u00a0and Google Translate, for some content.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Each translated article is carefully reviewed by\u00a0a journalist\u00a0for accuracy. Using translation tools gives us the time\u00a0for\u00a0more in-depth articles.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Enveloppe](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1cd109ab89e45131939dc62f87601432-enveloppe-de-vote-data.jpg\")
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