Word: emmenated
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...required under Swiss law to put a constitutional amendment to a national vote. It seeks to overturn a 2003 Federal Court ruling that deemed ballot box votes on naturalization an infringement on the rights of would-be citizens. The decision was handed down after residents of the town of Emmen in central Switzerland repeatedly voted to reject citizenship applications from non-Western European nationals living in their midst...
...town of Emmen, an industrial suburb of Lucerne, adopted a similar measure three years ago, but it was suspended by local authorities due to widespread criticism after townspeople rejected all the citizenship applications from non-E.U. nationals, mostly people from former Yugoslavia. A strong showing on Sunday could give the SVP more mainstream appeal and help them collect the 100,000 signatures needed to push through these referendums. "Some of the party's methods are grotesque," says Held. "They mobilize the public by creating drama - and they are overdoing...
...sobering thought recently when I heard that the citizens of Emmen, Switzerland (pop. 27,000), had been permitted to decide which of the 56 immigrants living among them should be granted citizenship--voting in an election that had some characteristics of fraternity rush week. It occurred to me that if the citizens of St. Joseph, Mo., had been given similar power in 1910 or so, my family would probably have lost in a landslide...
...Emmen, a Lucerne suburb, eligible voters received a booklet that included not only pictures of each prospective citizen but also information on his financial affairs and even his hobbies. I can't see my forebears scoring any points in the hobby section. My great-uncle Benny did grow tomatoes in his backyard, and I had a great-aunt who liked to spend her spare time nagging. Otherwise, I can't remember that crowd having any hobbies, unless you count comical attempts to speak English...
...first step of naturalization is handled on the local level, and lately a right-wing party has led an effort to make the decision by popular ballot. The view of political analysts on what the central issue of the immigrants' election would be was borne out by the Emmen results, which cleared eight of the 56 applicants: if an immigrant is from Italy he has a chance and if he's from the Balkans he doesn...
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