Israel's High Court Blocks Parties' Real-Time Voter Data Sharing

Israel's Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice (Bagatz), has overturned a decision by the Central Elections Committee (CEC) that would have allowed political parties to receive real-time information about voters from polling stations. The ruling prohibits party activists from using applications, such as 'Elector,' to transmit data on who has voted back to their respective parties.

This decision reverses a previous stance by CEC Chairman Judge Noam Sohlberg, who maintained that information about a person's attendance at a polling station constitutes private data. Sohlberg argued that party representatives, who gain access to this information while working at the polls, should not be permitted to share it with party databases.

The Likud party had strongly opposed such restrictions, arguing that parties with extensive activist networks and large databases rely on this data on election day. They use it to cross-reference voter turnout with their supporter lists, enabling them to identify and contact individuals who have not yet voted and encourage them to do so.