Swiss voters to decide on mandatory army service (AP)

GENEVA ? Switzerland's government says an advocacy group has collected enough signatures to prompt a vote on whether to end the nation's long tradition of compulsory army service.

The Federal Chancellery said Thursday that the Group for a Switzerland Without an Army, or GSoA, collected 106,995 valid signatures. At least 100,000 signatures were needed to hold the vote.

A 19th century law requires all able-bodied male citizens to serve between the ages of 19 and 34 for an initial basic training of up to 21 weeks and then a few weeks a year after that.

Two-thirds of Swiss voters backed keeping military duty in 1989. GSoA says a new vote would be held after the Defense Ministry reports back on the proposal a year from now.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120202/ap_on_re_eu/eu_switzerland_army

joan rivers chelsea handler mitch daniels lakers shirataki noodles elizabeth warren jorge posada