2021 Elections: This is how the elections will be held in the shadow of the Corona

The Central Election Commission held another hearing today (Monday) ahead of preparations for March 23 in the shadow of the Corona. The CEO, Orly Adas, revealed how the operation is going to be conducted: “In the current system, all our wishes and guidelines, that we will carry out the election campaign according to the values ​​of a democratic state, along with the possibility to let everyone go out and vote while taking all measures to maintain public health. . We call on the entire electorate, and I pledge that we will do everything, everything possible, so that Election Day will go smoothly and we will not see a dramatic jump in the morbidity graph in the State of Israel two weeks later. Everyone will vote in the knowledge that there is someone who is protecting him in order to exercise his right. “

“We are expected to employ about seventy thousand workers. It is like setting up a small army in a few weeks. We are doing it in less than two months. It is a huge challenge in light of the purple mark. How do we train them? If in the past polling committee secretaries were required to attend a five-hour training day, today “It is clearly not possible to exist in this format. For example, the double-counting vote count takes place, 3,500 people take part around the clock for 72 hours, and it cannot exist in the format that existed in previous years. The submission of lists cannot take place in the same format.

“The guideline is to reduce congestion at the polls. We will hold elections within one election day only. We will provide protection for all members of the polling committees, including a variety of masks, in case voters arrive without masks. We will clean partitions between voters and committee members. We will instruct the ultra-Orthodox to ventilate throughout the day. We will place two screens in each ballot box. In light of the analyzes we performed, we will take steps to reduce the number of eligible voters in each ballot box to 650. In order to reduce congestion. “The polls will be shortened. As a result, there will be an increase of 1250 polls,” Adas continued.

Adas also said that “we will set up a polling station set up exclusively for patients. I turned to the CEO of Clalit Health Insurance Fund, who agreed to use the Clalit Health Insurance Fund buildings for this purpose. Special polling station commissioner, there will be polling stations of the point and drive, voting from the car window. The goal that people did not get out of the vehicle. Vote and move on without contact with a healthy person. The members of the polling station committee in these positions will be equipped with the necessary protective equipment. “

“We check that a person who has been vaccinated and has passed five weeks since, is called to work at special polling stations for the isolated or called to someone who has been ill and recovered. There will be at least 250 such polling stations in different localities. There are about 720 nursing homes. Apart from their day-to-day staff, there will also be special polling stations in Corona’s wards in hospitals, and for isolators returning from abroad. Those who are being resuscitated or in intensive care will not be able to vote. “Anyone who can get out of bed can go to the polls in the ward,” Adas continued.

“Each polling station will have an inspector with a camera. It does not photograph everyone who comes to the polling station. It does not document the voting process, but only in cases of an exceptional event happening at the polling station, which will be forwarded to the membership committee for handling and documenting the count.” “We are expecting half a million double envelopes. Friday is the eve of Seder. We need to finish the count in two days. We have a Friday Saturday holiday to carry out an election purity campaign and publish results by the following Wednesday. I have no idea how we will do it.” , She added.

Asked by Maariv whether the election committee would prioritize vaccinations for election committee employees and polling committee members, and what would happen if a verified patient was found at the polls, Adas replied: “The issue of the possibility of tests or vaccinations, all employees will be at the polls. We will examine the issue with the Ministry of Health. Among other things, a test for polling station workers. Apart from the election committee workers, we do not know who the polling station representatives will be. They are sent by the factions. We hope to cooperate with the factions as well. Patients from a polling station placement.

“Regarding a verified patient, we formulate scenarios for the employees of Election Day and ways of action, what will be done in such a case. We will establish a special Knesset here at the central headquarters to examine each issue individually. If he was ill at the ballot box, the person who may stop voting is the director general of the Election Commission.

When asked why Election Day will not last for several days, she replied: “We have examined the possibility of splitting Election Day. Election Day is a sabbatical. Its cost is enormous. It is a sabbatical. It is not possible to retire a sabbatical in a few days. Most polling stations are located in schools and public buildings. It is impossible to suspend their activities for several days. We are required to recruit seventy thousand election day workers. If we spread the election days for a few days we will reach Seder night. When will we count the double envelopes? How many election days is almost five hundred million shekels per election day. Huge cost. ” Adv. Adas edited that Due to the corona’s estimates, an addition of about NIS 100 million will be needed to the election committee’s budget for the entire lineup.