Switzerland to hold referendum on introducing electronic ID
The Swiss are set to vote on the introduction of e-ID after the Federal Chancellery confirmed enough valid signatures were submitted by opponents of the federal law on electronic identity.
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The Chancellery confirmed that 55,344 of a total of 55,683 signatures submitted were valid.
The signatures were handed in by the referendum committee against the Federal Act of December 20, 2024 on Electronic Identity and Other Means of Electronic Evidence (e-ID Act), the Federal Chancellery said on Wednesday. A vote can therefore proceed.
In a press release on Wednesday, the “No e-ID” referendum committee welcomed “this important step” in the name of privacy protection. It is supported in particular by the conservative Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland, the youth wing of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, Friends of the Constitution and Aufrecht, along with Swiss Digital Integrity, a new party born out of a crisis within the Swiss Pirate Party.
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No fewer than three groups have launched a referendum against the new law. In a separate press release, the Pirate Party welcomed the democratic success, calling itself “the leader of the referendum and a critical voice from the outset”. The movement opposed to anti-pandemic measures, Mass-Voll, had also submitted 15,000 signatures.
In mid-April, the deposit of signatures against the new e-ID in the capital Bern degenerated into insults and blows. The president of the Mass-Voll movement, Nicolas Rimoldi, slapped Federal Democratic Union politician Samuel Kullmann in the face. The two men accused each other of insults.
First project swept aside
For the main referendum committee, the new e-ID law is repeating the mistakes of 2021, when a first draft was swept aside at the ballot box. The issue of personal data protection and private management of electronic identities tipped the balance, following a referendum launched by organisations active in the digital sector, supported by the left and the Pirate Party.
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The government is now back in favour of the law. Free of charge and optional, the new e-ID should make it possible to apply online for an extract from a criminal record, a driving licence or to prove one’s age when buying alcohol. It will also be in public hands.
Parliament gave the go-ahead to the new law last December. The e-ID should come into force in 2026 at the earliest.
Translated from French with DeepL/gw
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