Eastern Switzerland Plausibility software would not be a solution for St. Gallen election mishap

Measures are needed following the breakdown in the city parliament elections in the city of St. Gallen. Among other things, the use of plausibility software is being proposed. The canton has already gained experience with this.

There were actually two mistakes made on Sunday evening when the votes were counted in the city of St. Gallen. Firstly, the number of unchanged FDP ballot papers was entered incorrectly into the system. Instead of 1170, 2507 ballot papers were entered. This resulted in the incorrect distribution of seats.

As a measure against this "human error", the eight-eye principle will now be introduced for the manual entry of ballot papers, as the president of the electoral office, Andreas Vögeli, announced on Monday evening.

The second error occurred because none of the nine to ten people in the polling station requested a follow-up check despite the conspicuous result. Vögeli only decided to carry out a check the following Monday morning. He explained that he had a bad feeling about the result.

On Tuesday, Vögeli resigned from his position as president of the voting office as a further consequence of the mishap, as the city announced. At the same time, the city council announced an external investigation to clarify the errors.

Software as a solution to the problem?

Among the numerous reactions triggered by the subsequent correction of the distribution of seats since Monday evening was a press release from the Green Liberals. They suggest that the city should use plausibility software in future.

The unusual ratio of unchanged to changed lists should have been noticed as part of a plausibility check, writes the GLP. The canton of St. Gallen uses appropriate software for this purpose. "Its use would also be worth examining in the city of St. Gallen."

Would plausibility software have prevented the mishap in the city of St. Gallen? St. Gallen State Secretary Benedikt van Spyk confirms that the canton has such software. It is mainly used for votes. The program compares the data from different municipalities and can thus detect possible discrepancies.

Difficult data situation

The situation is different for elections. There is much more data. "What do you compare with each other?" says the State Secretary, pointing out one of the problems. In the case of the city of St. Gallen, a comparison with other municipalities would also not have been possible. The use of plausibility software makes sense for votes, he summarizes. "I would be very careful with elections."

Before election results are announced, there is always a lot of pressure to present the results quickly, van Spyk knows from his own experience. If there is a delay, there are immediately lots of phone calls and emails. Quality control - and the improvement of processes - therefore remain crucial.