The IDF held Wednesday one day of early voting ahead of next week’s March 23 elections, hoping to ease the process because of the pandemic.
Around 335 special polling stations were deployed at venues across the country to allow servicemen to cast their votes. Additional polls will be held at venues on Election Day itself.
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An IDF soldier will take her early ballot for the March 23 elections at an armed polling station
(Photo: IDF Speaker Unit)
The early ballots were intended to help speed up the counting of votes on election day, as soldiers use the “double envelope” system for absentee ballots which ensures anonymity, but take more time to count.
Early voting was held at the request of the Central Electoral Committee, which said 550 ballot boxes would be used at venues across Israel on Election Day.
Officials were expecting a greater number of absentee votes this year, estimated at more than 550,000, due to many Israelis in quarantine or hospitalization due to coronavirus.
This year, for the first time, Israeli diplomats were voting from recently established missions in the UAE, Morocco and Bahrain.
Under Israeli law, citizens living abroad cannot vote unless they are in Israel, but there are exceptions for diplomats and their families.