Grand Council BE Bern's Grand Council sees e-collecting as an opportunity to combat fraud

Bern's Grand Council sees digital signature collection as a potential opportunity in the fight against fraud. However, the canton should not rush ahead, parliament was told on Tuesday. The lead should be taken by the organization Digital Administration Switzerland, which is supported by the federal government and the canton.

The debate revolved around a report that the government had submitted on the subject of e-collecting following two postulates that had been passed. It was given new topicality by the media reports on Monday about suspected fraud in the collection of signatures for federal initiatives.

The case shows that there is a massive problem with forged signatures on paper, said Casimir von Arx (GLP). "The municipality doesn't know what my signature looks like." It is therefore difficult to detect fraud.

The solution is digital signature collection. After all, a digital signature is much more difficult to forge than a physical one.

The Council passed a planning declaration for the creation of a standing harmonized electoral register by a large majority. A cantonal electoral register that is updated daily is the basic prerequisite for the digitalization of political rights, it said. Today, the voting registers are kept in a decentralized manner by the municipalities.

In addition, the e-collecting project should not just play a secondary role alongside the work on e-voting despite the canton's tight budget, the Council demanded in another planning declaration.

"Other risks"

State Secretary Christoph Auer conceded that digital signature collection would possibly be less susceptible to fraud than physical collection. However, there are other risks with e-collecting. Foreign hackers could be up to mischief, as with all electronic solutions.

When it comes to people's rights, every solution must be one hundred percent secure, emphasized Auer. The implementation work is correspondingly complex.

SDA