A campaign poster, in favour of the burqa ban initiative, in Biberen near Bern in Switzerland.
Geneva:
Swiss voters on Sunday narrowly backed a ban on full face coverings in public places a decision hailed by supporters as a move against radical Islam but branded sexist and racist by opponents.
Official results showed that 51.21 percent of voters, and a majority of federal Switzerland s cantons, supported the proposal.
Some 1,426,992 voters were in favour of the ban, while 1,359,621 were against, on a 50.8 percent turnout.
The so-called anti-burqa vote comes after years of debate in Switzerland following similar bans in other European countries and in some Muslim-majority states despite women in Islamic full-face veils being an exceptionally rare sight in Swiss streets.
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.