Swiss voters have backed plans for electronic identity cards by a wafer-thin margin, in the second nationwide vote on the issue.
In a referendum on Sunday, 50.4% of voters supported an electronic ID card, while 49.6% were against, confounding pollsters who had forecast stronger support for the "yes" vote. Turnout was 49.55%, higher than expected.
The narrow win will come as a relief to Switzerland's main political parties, which had mostly supported plans for the e-ID. Both houses of the Swiss parliament had backed the measure with large majorities and the government had recommended a "yes" vote.
But voters rejected an earlier version of the e-ID in 2021, largely over objections to the role of private companies in the system. In response to these concerns, the Swiss state will now provide the e-ID, which will be optional and free of charge.
The referendum came soon after the UK government announced plans for a digital ID card, which would sit in the digital wallets of smartphones, using state-of-the-art encryption.
More than 1.6 million people have signed a petition opposing e-ID cards, which would be mandatory for people working in the UK by 2029.
The Swiss authorities said the e-ID would help people prove their identity online, making it easier to access government services or prove their age, for example when buying alcohol. The e-ID, which is linked to a smartphone, can also be used in bricks and mortar businesses, for instance, to open a bank account or prove age in bars and clubs. In order to ensure security the e-ID is linked to a single smartphone, users will have to get a new e-ID if they change their device.
Swiss people could still choose to use a physical ID card, which has been in place for decades. An ID card containing biometric data - fingerprints - will be available from the end of next year.
Critics of the e-ID scheme raised data protection concerns and said it opened the door to mass surveillance. They also fear the voluntary scheme will become mandatory and disadvantage people without smartphones. The referendum was called after a coalition of rightwing and data-privacy parties collected more than 50,000 signatures against e-ID cards, triggering the vote.
Political scientist Lukas Golder told Swiss public television, SRF, that since the Covid pandemic he had seen growing mistrust of state solutions, particularly in conservative regions.
The government argued digital ID would boost the Swiss economy by bringing the non-EU country in line with its neighbours.
By the end of 2026 all EU citizens should be able to have a digital wallet, allowing people to store ID cards, driving licences and university diplomas in one place online, so they can prove identity and have easier access to government and private business services. The digital wallet is voluntary, based on open-source code and is being tested by 550 public authorities and private companies in the EU, Norway, Iceland and Ukraine.
Some countries have already taken this path. For more than two decades, Estonians have had e-ID cards, which are used to vote, digitally sign documents, access public services and shop online. In Ukraine, 14 million people are said to use the Diia app and website, which allows people to store digital documents, including passports and ID cards, and access state services, such as paying traffic fines and updating driving licences.