E-ID cards

Mass-Voll submits a further 15,000 signatures against E-ID

Nicolas Rimoldi, President of the Mass-Voll movement (center), and his fellow campaigners have submitted a further 15,000 signatures for the e-ID referendum to the Federal Chancellery.

Keystone

On Tuesday, the Mass-Voll movement submitted a further 15,000 signatures to the Federal Chancellery in Bern for a referendum against the introduction of a state e-ID. Together with competing committees, around 55,000 signatures are now likely to have been submitted.

Keystone-SDA

22.04.2025, 11:47

This was stated by Mass-Voll President Nicolas Rimoldi when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency. According to Rimoldi, last week's information that the E-ID opponents had collected a total of around 63,000 signatures was misleading. He was cautiously optimistic that the referendum would be successful.

When asked, the Federal Chancellery was unable to provide any information on how many signatures had been submitted. This figure is only communicated once the signature check has been completed. Experience has shown that counting takes several days to a few weeks. 50,000 valid signatures are required for a vote to be held.

Last week, a heated dispute broke out over the submission of referendum signatures against the E-ID Act. Several committees that had collected signatures and handed them over to another committee for certification complained that some of their forms had already been submitted to the Federal Chancellery without their knowledge.

Second vote on E-ID possible

The first attempt to introduce the e-ID failed at the ballot box in March 2021. The bill wanted to leave the issuing of electronic ID cards to private individuals. Data protection concerns tipped the scales in favor of the no vote.

Last December, Parliament clearly approved the new E-ID Act and stipulated that the federal government would introduce the state-recognized electronic proof of identity.

There is also resistance to this. Various groups, some of which are fighting each other, have collected signatures against the bill over the past three months. In addition to Mass-Voll, these include the Pirate Party, the Friends of the Constitution, Aufrecht Schweiz, the Young SVP Switzerland and the EDU.