Home > 1.3.2.2 Voting procedures > Report on Electoral Law and Electoral Administration in Europe
 
 
 
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Paragraph 220
 

Postal voting is generally permitted in a number of CoE member states (e.g. Austria, Germany, Spain, Switzerland) or for voters abroad only (e.g. Andorra, Belgium, Netherlands, Romania). While there are no official statistics, presumably Switzerland holds the world record with an estimated 90% of voters using postal voting in the federal elections. However, postal voting should be allowed only if the postal service is secure and reliable. Each individual case must be assessed as to whether fraud and manipulation are likely to occur with postal voting (CDL(2002)023rev2-cor, part I.3.2.2.1). Whilst in Austria postal voting should generally be considered as being safe and unproblematic, among other problems, the incorrect handling of postal voting procedures led to the annulment and repeating of the 2016 presidential elections.