To clear up any voter confusion ahead of 5th national ballot in 3 years, Ynet has compiled all information needed for 6,788,804 Israelis eligible to vote and chose their representatives for the 25th Knesset
Israel has 6,788,804 eligible voters who can exercise their democratic rights on November 1 and cast their ballot for one of the 40 parties running in the elections for the country’s 25th Knesset.
Despite the election being Israel’s fifth in the past three years, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding the procedure. Ynet has compiled all the information needed to answer the most frequently asked questions, to provide voters with all the guidance they may require.
Who can vote?
Any citizen of Israel aged 18 or over, who is registered in the voter roll can cast a ballot. Some 210,720 new voters will be able to vote for the first time, most of them having reached the minimum age since the last ballot.
When and where can you vote?
There are 12,495 polling stations spread around the country, which will open their doors at 7am Tuesday. All polling stations will stay open until 10pm – except in communities with under 350 residents, where polls will close at 8pm.
In hospitals, prisons and old age facilities, the stations will open at 8am and close at 8pm.
The Interior Ministry sent out voting notices to eligible voters, indicating the location of their polling station and its number.
I did not receive my voting notice. How can I know where to vote?
If you did not receive the information in the post, you can go on the ministry’s website, enter your ID number and receive the location of your polling station. You can also call 1-800-222-290 and receive the information in Hebrew, Arabic, Russia, English or Amharic. You can also text 050-8085500.
Must I bring the voting notice to the poll?
No. There is no obligation to bring the notice with you, but it will make the poll workers’ job a bit easier if you do. The notice contains the poll number and location and the relevant information.
You are obliged to have a picture identification (ID or driver’s license).
How can I identify myself to poll workers?
A valid ID, driver’s license, military ID, police ID or Knesset member ID will help you identify yourself.
Where do active service members of the IDF vote?
Soldiers can vote on their bases or in the polling stations assigned to them according to their address in the voter rolls. Voting in both would constitute a violation of the law.
A soldier will be identified using a valid ID card, or the military ID.
Where must a soldier, who will be enlisting to the IDF on Election Day, vote?
The recommendation is for a person about to enlist to military service to first vote at the polling station indicated on the voter roll, before beginning the enlisting process. But if necessary, polling stations will be available at the induction center.
Where do members of Israel Police vote?
Members of the police can vote, when out of uniform, at any polling station. Their ballot will be put in a double envelope.
If the member of police chooses to vote in his or her allotted polling station, there will be no requirement to identify as a member of the force, and any other valid ID will suffice.
Where do prisoners or members of the Prison Authority vote?
There will be 55 polling booths in prisons and detention centers for prisoners, detainees or members of the police or prison authorities to vote.
Prisoners and detainees will be required to present a valid ID card and prison authority personnel must present a Prison Authority ID card.
What about people who are hospitalized and medical staff in hospitals?
Hospital personnel and patients hospitalized will have 222 polling booths positioned in the medical facilities around the country, provided they have more than 50 hospitalization beds.
A hospitalized voter will be required to present a valid ID and a form (25A) provided by the hospital, confirming his status as a patient.
Voting in hospitals will be between 8am and 8pm.
How do senior citizens living in care facilities vote?
There are 232 polling booths in senior care facilities and retirement homes. Residents in locations that do not have polling booths on site and are restricted in their mobility, can vote in any polling station which caters to disabled voters.
Where do disabled Israelis vote?
There will be 5,119 special access voting stations spread around the country, 2,938 of them with special arrangement for severe disabilities.
A voter who is unable to vote in his or her dedicated polling station, can cast a ballot in any of the special stations using double envelopes.
A disabled voter, whose disability is not visible to the unprofessional eye and does not have an ID describing him as being restricted in mobility, will be required to sign a declaration to that affect before the poll manager, outlining his physical or mental disability. A false declaration constitutes a criminal offense.
Can Israelis vote if they are out of the country?
Only those stationed abroad in an official capacity and their spouses, can vote in polling booths at Israeli embassies and consulates abroad.
Those votes were already cast ahead of Election Day at the 103 polling booths in 102 Israeli missions. Their votes will be counted on Election Day after 10pm.
How can I get to the polling station?
Members of the public must arrive at their dedicated polling stations on their own accord, but in order to ease the process, public transportation on Election Day will be free of charge, starting at 8pm on Monday, and until late on Election Day, according to the regular schedule when public transport ends. For schedule information call *8787.
How do I vote?
Ushers posted at your polling station will ensure you are directed to the correct location. You will be required to exhibit your identification and members of the polling station committee will confirm you are registered to vote. You will then be given an envelope and asked to step behind the screen to cast your ballot, choosing one from the 40 available. Make sure you take just one ballot and place it in your envelope and seal it. You will then return to the committee members and place your envelope in the ballot box.
Where to confirmed COVID patients vote?
There will be 280 dedicated polling stations for COVID sufferers who are quarantined, and patients must use them only. The voter will be asked to show a Health Ministry confirmation of his medical status.
Patients registered with the Health Ministry will be provided with transportation to the polls.
When is a vote disqualified?
A ballot will be disqualified if it contains writing, is wrinkled, torn or inconsistent with ballots provided by the Central Election Committee. A vote will be disqualified if the envelope contains more than one ballot.
How is voter fraud, or disruption to voting dealt with?
In order to ensure voting is done legally and without disruptions, there will be 13,490 assigned monitors carrying body cameras across the voting stations. They will film the vote counts and the transfer of votes to the Central Election Committee in order to identify irregular incidents.
A member of the police and an usher will also be present in polling stations, catering to large numbers of voters.
What are double envelopes and when will they be counted?
Double envelopes are used when ballots are cast in stations other than those allotted by the voter roll, including active duty soldiers, police, hospitalized citizens, and COVID patients, among others.
The Central Election Committee will gather the double envelopes and confirm there were no incidents of people voting twice before counting the votes.
When will election results be known?
Officials will begin counting the votes rom 10pm on Election Day before transferring their ballot boxes to the regional election committee where they will be confirmed and updated in the Central Election Committee computers.
Intermediate results will be known in the course of the night and the final results will be determined after the double envelopes are all counted – likely late on Thursday.
How can we be sure of the integrity of the vote count?
As results come in to the regional election committees, they will be entered into the Central Election Committee computers in full transparency so that the public would be able to observe the votes as they come in along with their origin.
Anyone who is concerned that there is a mistake, can alert the committee on line and if one is found, it will be corrected.
As reported by Ynetnews