Israeli parties allowed to track voter turnout in real time

Parties may receive information on whether an individual voted, but not the time of the vote, and this data cannot be transferred to third parties or retained after the election.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israeli political parties will be able to monitor voter turnout in real time on election day after the Central Elections Committee voted Sunday to permit the practice, reversing a recent ban imposed by its chairman.

The decision comes less than two months before Israel’s Oct. 27 election and allows party representatives at polling stations to use the Elector system to report which individuals have voted to their campaign headquarters.

The information can then be used to identify people who have not yet cast ballots and contact them during the day.

About 6.8 million Israelis are eligible to vote.

The committee voted 19-11 to approve the practice, with three Arab representatives abstaining. Elector has been used in several previous election cycles, particularly by Likud and Orthodox (Haredi) parties.

The vote overturns a decision by Central Elections Committee Chairman Supreme Court Justice Noam Solberg, who ruled that transmitting voter information violated voters’ right to privacy.

The High Court of Justice last week referred the dispute to the full committee after Likud challenged Solberg’s authority to prohibit the practice.

The court described the question of his authority as “difficult” and “complex,” while agreeing that real-time voter tracking raised privacy concerns.

Sunday’s decision imposes several restrictions. Parties may receive information about whether an individual has voted, but not the time of the vote.

The data may not be transferred to third parties and must be destroyed after the election.

The decision could itself be challenged before the High Court on privacy grounds ahead of the Oct. 27 vote.