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No activist says the proposal is a Trojan horse aimed at weakening human rights
Swiss voters seem to have rejected a proposal to give Swiss law priority over international law and treaties, according to the first forecasts of a national referendum.
The first figures showed that 67% voted against and 33%, according to the national broadcaster SRF.
Critics said the proposal would have damaged the country's global reputation.
A subsidy plan for farmers who do not remove the horns from their cows also seems to have been rejected.
If it is confirmed, the rejection of the sovereignty proposal would be a blow to the right-wing Swiss People's Party, which put it forward, said Imogen Foulkes, of the BBC in Geneva.
This proposal upset almost the whole political spectrum and could have affected Switzerland's relations with the European Union and even with the United Nations, added our correspondent.
All other major political parties in Switzerland, business leaders and human rights groups, have waged a highly organized campaign of opposition to the proposal for sovereignty.
Cows will not be able to keep their horns.
The farmer who initiated the cow horn initiative spent eight years campaigning, claiming that removing the horns was not natural and that it was painful and that the animals were much happier if they could keep them.
In the Swiss system of direct democracy, a proposal requires 100,000 signatures before being submitted to a referendum.
