by A.P.
The referendum was held despite it being extremely rare to see women in Islamic full-face veils on Swiss streets. Provisional results have shown a slight majority in favor.
Switzerland voted to ban “full facial coverings” in public places on Sunday. Provisional results showed that the vote in favor of the ban had succeeded with a slim majority of just 51.2%.
The referendum comes after years of debate, following similar bans in other European countries, such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Switzerland operates a system of direct democracy that has allowed the vote to go ahead. Any topic can be put to a national vote as long as it gathers 100,000 signatures in the country of 8.6 million people.Prior polls had indicated that a slim majority supports the move.
