Swiss voters reject plan targeting foreigners

GENEVA — Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to automatically expel foreigners who commit even low-level crimes, according to results, handing a setback to a popular nationalist party that had put forward the measure.

The initiative was rejected Sunday by 59 percent of voters, results showed. The outcome comes as a blow to the Swiss People’s Party, which had campaigned for the plan, and was a turnaround from opinion polls last year. The Swiss government had opposed the measure.