Supreme Court Bans Parties From Receiving Voter Turnout Data on Election Day

Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that party representatives at polling stations are prohibited from transmitting information about citizens who have voted to their respective parties. This decision overturns a previous ruling by the Central Elections Committee that would have permitted the practice in the upcoming elections.

The court's ruling is expected to directly impact how party headquarters operate on election day. Previously, data from polling stations was used to track which potential voters had already cast their ballots, allowing parties to mobilize supporters who had not yet voted.

The legal process began over a month ago when the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sohlberg, initially ruled that real-time voter information could not be shared. The Likud party challenged this decision, leading to an appeal at the Supreme Court.

During the initial court discussions, justices questioned Sohlberg's authority to make such a decision unilaterally. The issue was then returned to the full Central Elections Committee for reconsideration. In a reversal, the committee convened on September 6 and decided to allow the transmission of voter data under certain conditions, contradicting Sohlberg's earlier stance.

New petitions were filed against the committee's decision, culminating in the Supreme Court's final judgment. A panel of justices, including Yael Willner, Alex Stein, and Khaled Kabub, unanimously determined that the practice is illegal. Justice Willner, in the main opinion, stated that no existing law authorizes the transfer of this information, and it infringes upon the right to privacy and violates the prohibition against such actions under the Privacy Protection Law.

The court emphasized that the Central Elections Committee lacks the authority to permit this practice without explicit legal authorization. Consequently, the petitions were granted, and the committee's September 6 decision was nullified. The ruling clarifies that unless specific legislation is enacted, party representatives at polling stations cannot report whether an individual has voted.