Nearly 87% of voters cast their ballots at polling stations abroad ahead of the Israeli election

Israel’s Central Election Commission announced the conclusion of voting at overseas polling stations on Friday. This time, voters were significantly more active than during the previous campaign. According to official data, 4,218 out of 4,863 eligible voters cast their ballots. Thus, voter turnout stood at 86.7%.

By comparison, in the elections for the 25th Knesset in November 2022, 69.6% of voters cast their ballots abroad. The difference is 17.1 percentage points. In the three previous election campaigns, voter turnout at overseas polling stations ranged from 66% to 77%.

Who Can Vote Abroad

Not all Israeli citizens residing abroad are eligible to vote outside Israel. This right applies to employees of diplomatic missions, government envoys, and their family members. For most Israelis who are temporarily or permanently abroad, this option is not available. Therefore, the results of overseas voting apply only to a specific category of voters.

Voting traditionally began 12 days before the general election scheduled for October 27. Polling stations were open at 99 Israeli diplomatic missions around the world. A total of 101 polling stations were opened.

Where the first polling station opened

The first polling station to open was at the Israeli Embassy in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. It opened on Wednesday, October 14, at 11:00 p.m. Israel time. Later, the Israeli Embassy in Fiji joined the voting process. This was the first time a polling station had been opened there.

The entire process lasted about 30 hours. The last polling stations closed at the Israeli Consulates General in Los Angeles and San Francisco at 6:00 a.m. Israel time.

What Will Happen to the Ballots

After voting concludes, all ballots will be sent to Israel via diplomatic mail. There, they will be forwarded to the Knesset for counting. Votes cast abroad will be counted along with the ballots in double envelopes. Only after these votes are processed will they be included in the overall election results.

General elections for the 26th Knesset are scheduled for October 27. The high turnout abroad indicates the active participation of voters who are eligible to vote through diplomatic missions. At the same time, these figures do not reflect the participation of all Israeli citizens residing outside the country, as only certain categories of people are eligible to vote this way. This is reported by Newsru.co.il.