CHESEAUX-NOREAZ, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss voters are casting ballots this weekend in the latest quirky installment of their system of direct democracy: Deciding in a referendum whether cow and goat herders should receive state handouts for letting their beasts keep their horns.

Small-time cattle raiser Armin Capaul, from the Bernese regional village of Perrefitte, is the unassuming if media-friendly mastermind behind a painstaking petition drive that led to the vote that ends Sunday.

Proponents of the measure say the animals should be left the way nature intended, for their well-being and happiness. Opponents, like a key federation of cattle raisers, say the measure would cost too much and drain funds from other activities.

Polls suggest a neck-and-neck race after parliament expressed its opposition and support for Capaul's move has eroded in recent weeks.