2011 will mark an important step in the evolution of electronic voting. Three European countries will be in fact directly affected by this voting method. While the Estonians will use e-voting during the general elections for the second time in a row, Swiss voters will continue debating on the matter and test e-voting in certain pilot cantons during their general elections. Last but not least, Norway will, for the first time, conduct e-voting trials and plans to select pilot cities during the municipal elections next September.
In Switzerland, each canton must approve or not the introduction of online voting. According to the federal government, “electronic voting can only be put into general use once all the players – voters, politicians and authorities – are familiar with the new procedures, have accepted them and have confidence in them. The government therefore opted for a careful approach by implementing electronic voting in steps.”
