It was no great surprise that the Swiss Abroad were considerably more in favour of an electronic identity (e-ID) than voters in Switzerland. What was more surprising was that the Swiss Abroad also overwhelmingly approved the end of rental tax. Acceptance of the introduction of an e-ID, put to a nationwide vote on Sunday, was not the formality expected by pollsters. A long period of suspense culminated in only 50.4% of voters giving it the thumbs up. On the other hand, an analysis of Swiss Abroad votes – available only for the 12 cantons that provide these statistics – shows that almost 64% of expat voters ticked yes in their ballot papers. This result is in line with the expected pattern. The Swiss Abroad, who are geographically distant from their authorities, are among those for whom electronic identity should have the most tangible benefits. For political scientist Martina Mousson at research institute gfs.bern, this self-interest was clearly the driving force behind the Swiss ...
