Act on the Register of Residents and Register of Electors Platform (GESP) - Subject and Purpose (GESP)

1. The canton operates a resident registry and a voter registry platform.

2. The purpose of the resident registry platform is to

a) provide updated resident data to federal, cantonal, and municipal authorities for fulfilling their legal duties, and to allow them to access these data;

b) simplify data exchange between federal, cantonal, and municipal authorities;

c) simplify the data collection for statistical purposes.

3. The purpose of the voter registry platform is to

a) enable data exchange between the municipalities and the state chancery for electronic voting and ballot casting (Vote électronique);

b) import voter registry data into the Vote électronique system and print the voting rights certificates.

1. This law applies to the municipal resident and voter registers as well as to the cantonal resident register and voter register platform.

1. Cantonal and municipal authorities are considered to be the authorities according to § 3 of the Information and Data Protection Act (InfoDG) of February 21, 2001.

2. Federal authorities are considered to be the federal organs according to Article 3, letter h of the Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG) of June 19, 1992.

1. Personal data shall be maintained in the resident register platform as long as they are required for the fulfillment of public duties.

2. Details regarding the retention period are regulated by the government council.

3. The voting register data reported to the voting register platform for an election or vote are to be retained until the expiration of the appeal period or until the legal resolution of any potential complaints. The state chancellery deletes the data as soon as the elections are validated or the voting results are upheld.

1. The Resident Registration Platform contains the current data from the municipal resident registers on the identifiers and characteristics pursuant to Article 6 of the Federal Act on the Harmonisation of Resident Registers and Other Official Registers of Persons (Register Harmonisation Act, RHA) dated June 23, 2006, for individuals who have domiciled or reside in the canton.

2. Additionally, the Resident Registration Platform includes the information that the competent civil registry office discloses to a municipal administration pursuant to Article 49 of the Civil Status Ordinance (CSO) dated April 28, 2004.

3. Furthermore, information that is recorded in the resident registers and transmitted via the recognized interface standard may also be transmitted to the cantonal resident registration platform.

4. The Voting Register Platform contains the current data from the municipal voting registers on the identifiers and characteristics for individuals entitled to vote and elect, pursuant to Article 6 letters a, b, e, f, g, h, i, j, l, q, r, and t of the RHA.

1. The department is responsible for ensuring the exchange of data between federal, cantonal, and municipal authorities and registers in accordance with federal and cantonal regulations.

1. The municipal residents' registers report the data pursuant to § 5 and any changes thereof to the residents' register and electoral register platform.

2. The data reports to the residents' register platform shall be made within one working day after the data has been recorded in the residents' registers of the municipal residents in the electronic form specified by the department.

3. The data reports to the electoral register platform shall be made on the dates specified by the state chancellery and in the electronic form determined by them.

1. The canton reports the data pursuant to Article 14 RHG to the Federal Statistical Office through the residents' register platform.

2. The State Chancellery imports the data reports from the voter register platform into the Vote Electronic system. It transfers the processed data to the printing company via an electronic data carrier for the production of voting rights certificates.

1. The data transmissions pursuant to Sections 7, 8, and 10 to the resident register and electoral register platform, as well as the data transmissions of the resident register platform, shall be carried out in accordance with Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Register Harmonization Ordinance (RHO) of 21 November 2007.

1. Cantonal and municipal authorities may query data from the resident register platform, including particularly sensitive personal data, or have such data systematically reported to them, provided it is necessary for the fulfillment of their legal duties.

2. Resident controls are permitted to access all data concerning their own municipality and store this data on their own data carriers.

3. Public law religious communities and parish communities may retrieve or have data systematically reported regarding members of their denomination within their municipality, insofar as it is necessary for the fulfillment of their legal duties.

4. The cantonal authority responsible for compiling statistics has access to all personal data, including particularly sensitive personal data.

1. The Governing Council, after consulting with the Information and Data Protection Officer and the municipalities, establishes the authorities according to § 10 paragraph 1, paragraph 3, and paragraph 4, as well as the nature and content of their access rights.

1. The governing council, after consulting the Data Protection and Information Officer, determines which federal authorities are regularly provided with resident data and the manner in which this is done.

1. To fulfill their duties, the authorities may use the insurance number in accordance with Article 50c of the Federal Law on Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (AHVG) of December 20, 1946, for querying the data, if they have a legal basis pursuant to AHVG. The query can also be conducted using another personal identifier.

2. For the use of an electronic service, the insurance number according to Article 50c AHVG may be used for personal identification, provided that

a) the electronic service contains the insurance number; or

b) the insurance number is maintained in the data collections that underlie the electronic service.

1. The canton shall bear the costs for the operation of the resident register and the voting register platform.

2. The inquiry of data from the resident register and the voting register platform by cantonal and municipal authorities is free of charge.

1. The department shall establish an information security and data protection concept for the operation of the resident register and voting register platform, which complies with recognized standards.

2. The information security and data protection concept for the operation of the resident register and voting register platform includes specific legal, technical, and organizational protection measures and security aspects.

3. It particularly outlines

a) ensuring security in the area of IT infrastructure within the cantonal administration;

b) ensuring security in the area of data transmission between municipalities and the canton, within the canton, between the canton and the federal government, as well as between the canton and third parties;

c) processes to ensure authorization rules for access to data of the cantonal resident register platform are individually adapted to the connected authorities;

d) processes for monitoring data access through the systematic control of data access logs;

e) how responsibilities for data protection and data security are regulated.