Election Week in the Shadow of the Corona: Everything You Need to Know

Next week, on Tuesday, March 23, the citizens of the country will go to the polls for the fourth time in two years. Although it seems that the Israelis are already really practicing, the existence of the democratic process in the shadow of the Corona plague has led to many changes. Ynet makes order in everything you need to know before Election Day.

Every Israeli citizen who turned 18 on Election Day and is registered in the voter register.

Most Israeli citizens vote at the polling station near their place of residence and using a regular envelope, but some are allowed to vote outside their regular polling station. These include soldiers, foreign ministry envoys, civil servants abroad, emissaries of Zionist institutions, hospitalized, women staying in battered women’s homes, prisoners and detainees and citizens with disabilities who are permanently staying in certain institutions. Those with limited mobility are allowed to vote at special accessible polling stations, and police officers are also allowed to vote at all polling stations, as long as they arrive in uniform.

In the elections to the 24th Knesset, the number of double envelopes has doubled and is expected to reach about 600,000. On Election Day, 12,127 regular polling stations, 374 polling stations in nursing homes, 365 polling stations in hospitals, 61 polling stations in prisons, 3,776 accessible polling stations, about 340 polling stations for Corona patients, about 420 polling stations for the isolated and more.

The Central Election Commission has set up a transportation outline for Corona patients that patients will have to coordinate at a dedicated website that will open in the coming days their departure from home to the polls. As for the isolated, an outline has not yet been formulated, but they are considering allowing private transportation for them as well due to the fact that not everyone has the opportunity to get to the polls in a private car and this creates inequality that can hurt those eligible to vote.

The Central Election Commission has made many adjustments so that on Election Day, Israelis can exercise their right to vote, while maintaining their health. To this end, many polling stations have been added to reduce the burden on all polling stations, and the workers at the polling stations undergo corona inspections and maintain a hygienic and clean environment between voting. The Election Commission calls on everyone to vote without fear.

6,578,084 Israelis will be able to exercise their right to vote next week. This is an increase of 1.9% from the previous elections. The numbers are an addition of 124,829 new eligible, some of whom are teenagers who have turned 18 and will vote for the first time. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, in this election 78% of eligible voters living in Israel are Jews, including 11% ultra-Orthodox. 17% of eligible voters are Arabs and 5% are others. In addition, about 13% of eligible voters are young people aged 18-18, 29% aged 39-25, and 32% aged 59-40. The share of eligible voters aged 60 and over is about 26%.

According to the Knesset Research and Information Center, in the last three election campaigns there was a cumulative increase of 3 percentage points in the overall turnout: 68.5% in the 21st Knesset elections, 69.8% in the 22nd Knesset elections and 71.5% in the 23rd Knesset elections. The turnout was higher in Arab localities.

The only people allowed to vote abroad are emissaries in national positions at consulates and embassies around the world. The weekend ended with voting at Israeli missions abroad, with the closing of the polls at missions in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The percentage of votes in Israeli missions abroad was 77% in 99 missions. Out of 3,976 eligible voters, 3,056 actually voted. The rest of the Israelis who are outside the country’s borders will only be able to vote if they come to Israel.

Tens of thousands of Israelis who have been abroad have begun to return to Israel in recent days gradually following the government’s decision to open Ben Gurion Airport. The number of arrivals is still limited to 3,000 daily, and given that there is one week left until Election Day – it is possible that some Israelis will not arrive Back to the country to exercise their right.

Due to the challenges in overseeing elections in the shadow of the Corona, the Central Election Commission has decided to act to place an election purity inspector at each of the polling stations across the country. That is, according to the current expectation of the number of polling stations, the Central Election Commission wants to place about 15,000 inspectors at the various polling stations. For comparison, in the elections to the 23rd Knesset, 4,000 inspectors were placed at the various polling stations.

After each ballot is closed, the ballot committee members count the ballots, mark in the table the number of votes each list received, compare the number to the number of eligible voters at the ballot box and summarize the results. The entries are submitted to the Regional Election Commission for review, and the results are entered into a computer connected to the Central Election Commission computers.

Count the kosher votes and calculate how many votes are 3.25% of them. This number of votes is the blocking percentage in this election. Divide the total valid votes given to lists that passed the blocking percentage by 120. The result of the division is called “surveyor”. Invalid votes are not counted for this calculation and are lost. Kosher votes given to lists that have not passed the blocking percentage are not taken into account for the purpose of calculating the distribution of seats between the lists. The Central Election Commission publishes the results and the distribution of seats within eight days of the election day.

Some issues still remain open due to the different preparation of the Central Election Commission in light of the election in the shadow of the Corona plague. The key question is how many dedicated polling stations will be required to be set up for corona patients and the isolated, where polling station workers will be protected from head to toe and with strict hygiene conditions.

With forecasts changing daily and an increase in morbidity expected after the opening of the large economy in recent days, the Election Commission notes that until the last minute they will not know how many corona and isolated patients will be in Israel on Election Day. As for the transportation of the isolated to the polling station, so far no outline has been agreed for transportation for the isolated and it is possible that it will be signed in the coming days.

In addition, the location of the polling stations designated for corona and isolated patients has not yet been determined. It will be determined according to the morbidity in different localities across the country. For example, if the number of patients in Jerusalem is high, several designated polling stations will be set up in the city and not one. If there are a few patients in Netanya, they may arrive by shuttle to the polls in another city near their place of residence. In order to determine the location of these polling stations, the Election Commission will be required to have an up-to-date picture of the morbidity in Israel and therefore the polling stations will be located a few days before Election Day.