The Federal Act on Political Rights (PRA) gives the cantons responsibility for conducting Swiss federal votes and elections within their territory and sets out the regulatory framework for the associated process. Trials with electronic voting are governed by the Federal Act (Art 8a PRA), the Ordinance on Political Rights (Art. 27a ff. PoRO) and the Federal Chancellery Ordinance on Electronic Voting.

At the end of 2020, the Federal Council decided to realign the trial operation for e-voting. The amended Ordinance on Political Rights (PoRO) and the Ordinance on Electronic Voting (OEV) came into force on 1 July 2022. On 3 March 2023, the Federal Council granted the cantons of Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen and Thurgau initial authorization for the use of Swiss Post’s e-voting system. The e-voting system developed by Swiss Post can be used for votes in these three cantons until May 2025.