Ynet’s election blog – regular updates

The Central Election Commission updated tonight that by 20:00 the turnout was 60.9% – about 4.7% less than the current figure in the last election in March 2020. The Director General of the Election Committee, Adv. Orly Adas, noted that this is the lowest figure per hour This has been the case since the 2009 elections. Voting in prisons has ended and the turnout is about 75% (compared to 79% in the previous elections).

(Sivan Hailai and Roi Rubinstein)

The chairman of the election committee, Judge Uzi Vogelman, announced that similar to the three election campaigns that have taken place in the last two years, corrupted ballot papers will be considered kosher votes and will be counted. The Central Committee and a note bearing the letters of one of the lists of candidates with a nickname different from the nickname approved.

Right-wing chairman Naftali Bennett wrote: “Bibi is weak against Hamas. I wish Netanyahu would have fought Hamas the way he fought me. Hamas laughs at Netanyahu’s weakness. They fired a Grad rocket near Be’er Sheva while Bibi was visiting there. “

Suspicion of fraud at a ballot box at a school in Jerusalem: Two committee members were arrested in the afternoon on suspicion of disrupting the normal election process and forgery. Police said they are suspected of intentionally vandalizing election envelopes.

Voter turnout is still relatively low in the 2021 election: As of 6:00 p.m., 51.5% of eligible voters voted – 4.8% less than the corresponding hour in the previous March 2020 election. This is 3,384,482 voters.

The director general of the Central Election Commission, Adv. Orly Adas, said: “We did everything possible to make voting accessible to the general public, including special groups. Answers and solutions were given. Unfortunately, the public probably chose a little less to come and vote.”

Data from the Shebaa (Automatic Banking Services) company, which manages the national payment card system, shows that between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM, Israelis spent NIS 1.09 billion on credit cards. This is a decrease of 5.2% compared to these hours. On the previous election day in March 2020. The busiest minute during the day was 14:11 – when expenses amounting to NIS 2.72 million were recorded.

Protesters against Benjamin Netanyahu, who were walking around with a car and a poster on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv in order to encourage residents to vote, were attacked with pepper spray or tear gas, according to the prime minister’s supporters who fled the scene. One of the activists, Yonatan Ofer, was wounded in the eye. A police force present in the area arrived at the scene.

Some time later, Ofer said: “We encouraged a vote on Rothschild Boulevard. At one point we saw a group of 16-year-olds shouting ‘Only Bibi.’ We answered them and then they sprayed tear gas – first in the air and then one of them sprayed me straight in the eye. A policeman passed by. Help us. “

(Itai Blumenthal)

In the afternoon, unknown individuals punctured the minibus tires of the Blue and White party that accompanies Chairman Bnei Gantz on Election Day. The incident took place during a patrol in Petah Tikva, while activists went down to visit one of the polling stations.

(Attila Shumpelby)

The Central Election Commission reported that the voting rate as of 16:00 stands at 42.3% – a figure that represents a decrease of 4.7% from the corresponding hour in the previous elections last March. To date, 2,782,010 eligible voters have voted, of which only 200 are at Ben Gurion Airport. The voter turnout in the IDF is 69%.

Many homeowners complain that they are unable to coordinate transportation to the designated polling stations. Paul Lichtenstein, who returned from Cyprus last Thursday, claimed that “I scheduled a transfer between 8:00 and 10:00 in the morning, and no one came. I called again and booked between 10:00 and 12:00, and again no one came. In the committee The election told us to come by car – but we do not have one. ” The Election Commission is investigating the allegations against the taxi company Get Taksi, which is responsible for the transportation system for the isolated.

A spokeswoman for the Prisons Service updated in the afternoon that by 15:00, 56% of the inmates in the detention facilities in the country had voted. The polling stations are expected to close at 20:00, after which they will be collected by the polling committees.

(Roy Rubinstein)

The turnout is low compared to the previous elections: until 14:00, the overall turnout in Israel was 34.6%, which is 2,278,032 voters. This is a decrease of 3.5% compared to Election Day for the 23rd Knesset.

Police are reporting additional incidents that have required their intervention in recent hours: Three people have been arrested on suspicion of trying to impersonate Netanya polling commissioners.

A man who went to the polls in Petah Tikva threatened people in the area with a knife. An examination revealed that this was a mental contender and he was taken for questioning.

At the end of a foot chase, a man was arrested in Beit Shemesh on suspicion of inciting boys to throw objects, fruits and vegetables at police officers who were maintaining order on Election Day. At the same time, about 100 people gathered outside the polling station in the city, lit a tin can and shouted incitement calls outside the polling station. Two of them were arrested.

Police forces were called to restore order at the ballot box at a school in Haifa where a brawl broke out.

(Dr. Matan Gutman)