Likud Minister Files Petition to Halt Publication of Primary Vote Recount Results

Likud Minister Gila Gamliel has filed an urgent petition with the party's Supreme Court to stop the publication of the final primary election results scheduled for tomorrow. The petition, submitted through her attorney Aryeh Toito, requests a temporary injunction to prevent the inclusion or dissemination of the vote recount results from two polling stations in Be'er Ya'akov. The recount was conducted recently following a request by the CEO of Reshef Security to the chairman of the Likud election committee, retired judge Menachem Naaman. Gamliel claims she was not informed about the request or the decision to open the ballot boxes.

The petition raises serious concerns about breaches in the chain of custody of the ballot boxes, which were removed from the polling center on August 18 and held for eight days without official documentation or proper recording of original seals. It also alleges manual erasures in the protocols. Significant discrepancies were found in the recount, including a reduction in valid votes, an increase in invalid votes, and dramatic changes in vote counts for senior candidates. One protocol reportedly recorded thousands of votes while the actual total was much lower, and there were instances of mixing ballots between different polling stations.

Given these irregularities, Gamliel demands the annulment of the recount results, reinstatement of the original August 17 results, and full disclosure of all related documents. This legal move intensifies the ongoing dispute over the Likud primary vote count and the integrity of the process.