Ban on Reporting Voters at Polling Stations: "From Likud's Perspective, This Is an Attack"

The Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice (Bagatz), heard today, Wednesday, the petition of the Likud party against the decision of the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Sohlberg, to prohibit the transfer of information from polling stations regarding voters who have voted and those who have not yet voted.

Attorney Ilan Bombach, representing Likud, stated at the hearing:

"From Likud's perspective, this is an attack. It ruins the elections for us."

"I was mild in my language when I said attack," continued Bombach. "A few weeks before an election, this is a huge and colossal damage to Likud." Judge Khaled Kabub asked if the decision did not affect all parties, to which Bombach replied that Likud is a veteran party with a large voter database and dedicated software, and that changing such practices just before an election is unacceptable.

Judge Kabub responded:

"So the test is who has an ancient voter registry and can extract details?"

Bombach noted that the State Attorney's Office had defended this practice all along.

As recalled, about a month ago, Sohlberg prohibited party representatives at polling stations from reporting who arrived to vote using applications designed to incentivize voters, such as "Elector." In his decision, Sohlberg determined that existing law prohibits party representatives from transferring real-time information about a person's presence at the polling station or the fact of their voting.

Sohlberg noted: "My conclusions reflect the existing legal situation in accordance with privacy protection laws. It is possible that there is room to amend it, but it is not for me to say how, given the balance between the constitutional requirement for secrecy and the right of parties to maintain contact with voters."

Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Religious Zionism stated there is no violation of privacy and opposed the decision. Shas stated: "But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew." A senior Likud official attacked Sohlberg, claiming the move is a "targeted assassination of the right."