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The Elections in Israel are
General: Every citizen of the State of Israel over the age of 18 years has the right
to participate in elections.
National: The entire country constitutes a single electoral district.
Direct: The Knesset members are elected directly by the public and not by any
other electoral body.
Equal: Every citizen has one vote, and all votes carry equal weight.
Secret: The voting is done by secret ballot. No one but the voter knows for
whom s/he voted. The means for guaranteeing a secret ballot are as follows:
- An insulated opaque envelope which contains the slip selected by the voter
- A booth in which the voter can select the slip and put it into the envelope in private.
Every citizen is free to vote according to his/her conscience
without anyone else knowing how he/she voted.
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Note: The elections will be held on March 28, 2006 (28 Adar, 5766)
 Elections Results
- Any list of candidates which received more than 2% of the valid votes will participate in the
allocation of the mandates in the Knesset.
- The total number of valid votes of all of the lists participating in the allocation will be
divided by 120, and the resulting number is called the "index".
- Each list of candidates will receive the proportional number of Knesset seats as the
whole-number result of dividing the number of valid votes by the index.
Who's Who in the Voters' Registry
The Voters' Registry is the official list of citizens who are eligible to vote in the
elections.
Anyone listed in the Voters' Registry has the right to vote in the elections for the
Seventeenth Knesset.
According to the law, one has the right to be included in the Registry if they fulfill the
following three conditions:
The individual became a citizen of Israel no later than 2/2/2006.
The citizen was born no later than 28/3/1988.
The citizen's name and address appeared in the Population Registry no
later than 8/2/2006.
Where Do You Vote?
On election day and during several days before, the Central Elections Committee will provide
a telephone information service which will enable voters to find out the exact addresses of their
polling stations. The telephone numbers for this service will be publicized in the newspapers.
People who are not mobile or handicapped will be able to vote at special polling stations
set up specifically for them. The aforementioned information service will have the details
of the locations of these polling stations. The voting in these stations will be done with
double envelopes.
Voters who are registered with addresses in the former Gush Katif and North Shomron settlements
will be able to vote at any polling station accessible to them including a polling station in the
Nitzan settlement.
Voting will also take place in hospitals, prisons, Israeli sea vessels, and Israeli diplomatic
representations abroad.
About three weeks before election day, citizens will receive a notice in the mail from
the Interior Ministry which states his/her polling station and its address.
Election Day
Election Day is a national public holiday, though several services, including public
transportation, will be working regularly. Polling stations will be open from
7:00 AM until 10:00 PM. (Small polling stations, where the number of elligible voters
is up to 350, will open at 8:00 AM and close at 8:00 PM.) The doors of the polling
stations will close exactly at 10:00 PM (or 8:00 PM), but those who are already inside will
be able to vote. Anyone who comes to the polling station after it is closed will not be
allowed to vote.
Every citizen who comes to vote must identify himself/herself by one of four means:
- An identity card which displays a picture of its owner
- A valid Israeli passport with a picture of its owner
- A valid Israeli driver's license with a picture of its owner
- A Knesset Member's certificate
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The Polling Station and Voting Booth
The Stages in Voting:
- The citizen identifies himself/herself to the secretary of the polling station committee using one of the means mentioned above.
- After his/her name is located on the list of voters, the citizen receives a blue insulated
envelope marked "Elections for the 17th Knesset." The opaque envelope is also stamped by
the Central Elections Committee and its chairperson, and bears the signature of two members
of the polling station committee.
- The voter enters the voting booth. He/She will find there slips of paper representing
all of the lists of candidates running for the Knesset. There will also be blank white slips of paper.
Voting Slips for Each List of Candidates for the Knesset
The vote is for a list of candidates.
Each slip (except the empty one) represents a list of candidates running for the Knesset.
Each slip contains a Hebrew letter or group of letters and the name
of the respective party list.
The vote takes place as follows:
- The voter chooses only ONE slip representing the party list for whom he/she wants to
vote. He/she then places it into the envelope and seals the envelope shut. The voter
may use a white slip of paper to write (in Hebrew or Arabic only) the name of the list of candidates
and its respective letter. A blank white slip of paper is an invalid vote and will not be
counted.
- The voter exits the booth with the sealed envelope in hand and places it into the ballot
box in front of the polling station committee members.
- All citizens must listen to the instructions of those responsible for keeping the order
at the polling stations.
The voter must place one slip only into the envelope. If there are two slips for the
same list of candidates, then one will be counted. If there
are more than two slips or if there are two different slips, the vote is considered invalid.
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