INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
The vote was one of two national referendums on Sunday
Swiss voters have
overwhelmingly backed a new gambling law which would block foreign betting sites, according to early results.The new Gambling Act won the
support of 72% of voters, according to projections, despite accusations that the law amounts to online censorship.Due to take effect in
2019, the act permits only Swiss-certified casinos and gaming companies to operate there.The government says it is designed to tackle
gambling addiction.Both houses of parliament have already passed the legislation
While the bill will let Swiss companies offer online gambling for the first time, it will also block all foreign betting sites in the
country, something opponents say amounts to "censorship of the internet".Various youth wings from political parties garnered the 50,000
signatures necessary to stage the referendum in an attempt to overturn the act.Image copyrightAFP/GettyImage caption
Only Swiss-certified casinos and gaming companies will be able to operate there
The government insists the act is necessary
to enforce strict rules, like blocking known addicts, to help tackle the problem.Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said the law would be
"indispensable" in the fight, but also said it would allow the government to tax gambling revenue and direct revenues to fund anti-gambling
according to the government.But campaigners say the move will actually cost the government money, as the new law raises the threshold on
taxable winnings from 1,000 Swiss francs to 1 million
Before the vote, Luzian Franzini, co-president of the Greens' youth group, told AFP news agency that the act set "a very dangerous
precedent".Mr Franzini spoke of a "generation gap" between young voters angry about the law and the lawmakers who passed the law."They may
not really have understood what this could do to the internet," he said.Voters are projected to have soundly rejected a new law which would
have barred commercial banks from creating money when they lend
Initial projections show 75% had voted down the Sovereign Money Initiative, which would have permitted only the Swiss National Bank to
create money in the country
A final result is expected at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT).A bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics was also voted down on Sunday, in a local
54% of voters in the southern canton of Valais rejected a proposal to pay for the town of Sion to host the games - the fifth time the plan
has been put to a vote and turned down by the electorate.
