Immigration put to the vote in Switzerland found that the Swiss prefer to keep their doors open to new migrants.
Three-quarters of voters (74.1%) said no to imposing a cap on immigration, cutting numbers from 80,000 a year to just 16,000.
The group which spearheaded the referendum, Ecopop, claimed that Switzerland did not have sufficient resources to support mass immigration and that the country was being “buried under concrete” as a result.
The left-of-centre Ecopop was joined by far-right people, but the initiative was met by a unprecedented campaign launched by business leaders, the government, and mainstream political parties which argued that drastically limiting immigration would damage the country’s economy.
The vote also considered proposals to force the central bank to increase its gold reserves and to scrap a tax for rich expatriates.
Some three-quarters also rejected the “gold initiative” and nearly 60% refused to scrap the expatriate tax.
All the issues brought forth many passionate debates.
Five million people in Switzerland were eligible to vote in the referendum, which will be triggered if more than 100,000 voters sign a petition.
