Turnout reaches its highest level since 1988
By 8:00 PM, 5,449,277 people had voted, bringing turnout to 74.3%, the highest since 1988.
At 6:00 PM, turnout stood at 66.7%, with 4,892,186 voters, reported as a 9% increase compared with the same time in the previous election. The number of people who had voted by that hour was also reported to have exceeded the total for the entire 2022 election.
At 4:00 PM, turnout was 55.7%, the highest for that hour since at least 1969. The acting director general of the Central Elections Committee said:
“If we continue at this pace, we may break the 80% voter turnout record by the end of the day.”
Turnout was around 80% until the late 1990s, subsequently fell into the 60% range and has gradually risen over the past decade.
Local turnout figures
A city-level breakdown, with no specified reporting time, put turnout at 50% in Tel Aviv, 48% in Jerusalem, 47% in Be’er Sheva, 46% in Haifa and 51% in Rishon LeZion.
In cities identified with Likud, turnout was 51% in Afula, 49% in Ashkelon, 50% in Migdal HaEmek, 40% in Bat Yam, 47% in Tiberias and 49% in Holon.
Ultra-Orthodox turnout was reported as broadly similar to 2022, except in Beitar Illit, where it declined from 81.34% to 72.72%.
Dispute over extending voting hours
Likud said it had submitted a request to extend voting hours. No nationwide extension will take place, with polling stations scheduled to close at 10:00 PM.
The Yashar! Party, led by Eisenkot, strongly opposed the request. It said no exceptional incident justified an extension and alleged that the request was intended to lay the groundwork for challenges to the election’s integrity. The party linked this concern to what it described as falsehoods Netanyahu had spread since the morning.
In Hebron, however, voting will be extended from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM because of a power outage.
Likud alleges polling-station misconduct
Likud claims it submitted 775 formal complaints to the Central Elections Committee concerning misconduct and attempted election fraud at polling stations in the Arab sector.
Sagi Keizler, who oversees election integrity on Likud’s behalf, says that:
“the Elections Committee is ignoring the complaints and prefers a high voter turnout over ensuring that the voting process is conducted properly, in accordance with all laws and procedures.”
