A recent poll run by Swiss media company Tamedia on voting intentions for the upcoming federal referendum to ban face covering in public found a majority were in favour.
Overall, 63% of those polled were in favour of the ban, with 35% opposed and 2% undecided, according to the newspaper Le Matin.
Political party support for the idea was highest among Swiss Peoples Party (UDC/SVP) members (93%), PLR/FDP (72%) and the Cristian Democrat Party (PDC/CVP) (63%) members.
Members of the Socialist Party were less enthusiastic about the plan. Only a third of their members polled were in favour of the ban.
There was no significant difference between men and women. Higher percentages of French- (66%) and Italian-speakers (71%) were in favour of the ban than German-speakers (60%).
The referendum, scheduled for 7 March 2021, aims to ban face covering in public, with a few exceptions such as at places of worship.
Last week, the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive announced it was against the proposal.
More on this:
Le Matin article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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