Ordinance on the Pilot Operation of Electronic Voting - Pilot Operation

1. The government council determines, within the scope of an indefinite test operation, for each vote or election that is eligible for electronic voting, whether the opportunity for electronic voting should be granted, and submits an appropriate application to the competent federal authorities.

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3. There is no entitlement to subject a vote or an election to electronic voting.

**1. The Right to Electronic Voting**

1. Swiss expatriates eligible to vote, who have a political residence in the Canton of Basel-Stadt and are registered in the cantonal Basel-Stadt voting register by the 55th day prior to the respective ballot, are authorized to vote electronically.

2. Eligible to vote electronically are also voters with a disability, who register with the competent electoral authority by the 55th day before the respective ballot and provide proof that they receive a disability insurance (IV) pension or present a medical certificate confirming that they cannot cast their vote in the conventional way without assistance.

3. The Council of State may extend electronic voting to other eligible voters.

1. The Elections and Voting Section of the Department of the Presidency organizes electronic voting.

1. For the purpose of implementing electronic voting, the Canton of Basel-Stadt enters into a service contract with a provider who has a system that has been tested in accordance with federal regulations.

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1. Eligible voters permitted to vote electronically pursuant to § 2 shall receive their voting or election materials, the voting certificate, and the information regarding the electronic voting or election procedure from the organizing authority in a single dispatch.

2. The dispatch is conducted using a two-way envelope. The voting certificate contained therein includes the access data for electronic voting.

1. The voters eligible for electronic voting pursuant to § 2 may freely choose between voting by mail, electronically, or in person at each ballot.

2. The voters may only cast their vote once.

1. In electronic voting, the eligible voters exercise their right to vote on a voting website.

2. Verification of voting eligibility within the system is ensured by requiring voters to authenticate themselves using personal codes.

3. The voting card may include additional security features.

1. The Electoral Committee consists of appointees from the Government Council responsible for elections and voting, as well as staff from the State Chancellery. It has the following specific tasks

a) * Verification of the correctness of the verification software version;

b) * Review of the voting process using the verification software;

c) * Definition and input of a complex password for encryption and decryption of votes;

d) * Submission of at least one control vote and verification of its correctness during the voting weekend;

e) * Commissioning an investigation if necessary;

f) * Confirmation with a signature that the processes were conducted correctly.

1. The electronic ballot box is opened on the fourth-last Monday at 12:00 PM before the voting or election Sunday and is closed on the Saturday before the voting or election Sunday at 12:00 PM.

2. All time indications related to electronic voting are based on Swiss time, i.e., Central European Time (CET) taking into account daylight saving time as per Articles 1 and 2 of the Federal Time Act of March 21, 1980.

1. The organizing authority operates a helpdesk. During the Basel-Stadt office hours, questions from eligible voters concerning political rights, electronic voting, procedural issues, or technical problems are answered either by telephone or via email.

1. Votes cast are separated from personal data by the system at the time of voting in such a manner that they cannot be reconnected.

1. Every electronic, postal, or in-person vote is recorded in the system.

2. The registration of electronic votes is automated, whereas the registration of postal or in-person votes is done manually.

3. The first vote recorded in the system is deemed valid. All subsequently recorded votes from the same person are disregarded.

1. Electronically cast votes shall be reported separately in the final protocol, provided that this does not compromise the confidentiality of the vote and does not allow for conclusions to be drawn about the voting behavior of a specific group of eligible voters.

1. Upon the validation of the voting or election results by the federal government, all databases and the electronic ballot box shall be deleted.

2. Reserved remains Article 27o (Scientific Supervision) of the Federal Ordinance on Political Rights dated May 24, 1978.

1. If a situation is not regulated by this ordinance, the Ordinance on the Law on Elections and Referenda of January 3, 1995, shall apply subsidiarily.

1. The organizing authority shall issue specific directives regarding this ordinance.

1. The regulation is to be published. It becomes effective immediately.