Swiss vote for a ban on face coverings
Nick Cumming-Bruce
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Geneva | Switzerland on Sunday (Monday AEDT) became the latest European country to ban the wearing of face coverings in public places, prohibiting the veils worn by Muslim women.
Official results of the nationwide referendum showed 51.2 per cent of voters supported the ban on full facial coverings, which was proposed by the populist, anti-immigrant Swiss People’s Party (SVP), compared with 48.8 per cent opposing it, a much narrower margin of victory than pollsters had initially predicted.
Monika Ruegsegger-Hurschler from the SVP, which promoted the ban on face coverings.
AP
The initiative, started long before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, makes exceptions for facial coverings worn at religious sites and for security or health purposes, but also bans coverings like the ski masks worn by protesters. Officials have two years to write legislation to put the ban into effect.