Supreme Court Defers Ruling on Real-Time Voter Data for Parties

Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday opted not to rule immediately on a petition filed by the Likud party challenging the prohibition on parties receiving real-time data about voters who have arrived at polling stations. By agreement of the parties involved, the matter will first be brought before the plenum of the Central Elections Committee for the 26th Knesset.

The petition was submitted following decisions by the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee that banned the transfer of voter data from polling stations during election day. Likud had requested the Supreme Court intervene and permit parties to receive this information in real-time.

The hearing was conducted before Justices Yael Willner, Alex Stein, and Khaled Kabub. At the conclusion of the proceedings, the parties accepted the panel's recommendation for an interim arrangement. Under this plan, a request by attorney Shahar Ben Meir on the subject will be forwarded to the plenum of the Elections Committee. The committee chairman's decisions, which were the subject of the petition, will be considered his legal opinion and presented to the committee members.

The plenum is authorized to decide on the request based on all presented data. The court has ordered the committee to reach a decision by Sunday, September 6, at 5:00 PM, and to inform the Supreme Court shortly thereafter. A follow-up hearing on the petition is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9, at 8:00 AM. To expedite the process, the court stipulated that the hearing would proceed as if a conditional order had already been issued.

This means the core issue remains unresolved. Initially, the Central Elections Committee must formulate a position through a plenum vote. Subsequently, the Supreme Court will review the committee's decision during the continued hearing. The justices emphasized that all parties' arguments are preserved for both the committee's deliberations and the Supreme Court's subsequent review. In addition to Likud, the Elections Committee, and the state, other parties and factions, including Shas, United Torah Judaism, Blue and White, and "Yisrael" led by Gadi Eisenkot, were joined to the proceedings.