Supreme Court Bans Real-Time Voter Tracking by Parties

Israel's Supreme Court has definitively banned the practice of political parties reporting in real-time on who has voted at polling stations. This decision overturns a directive from the Central Elections Committee that had permitted such reporting. The court ruled that this real-time tracking violates privacy laws and constitutes an disproportionate infringement on citizens' rights.

The ruling, authored by Justice Yael Willner and agreed upon by Justices Alex Stein and Khaled Kabub, also stated that the Central Elections Committee lacked the legal authority to approve such data collection in the first place, as there is no explicit legal provision for it.

The practice, often facilitated by digital tracking systems and apps like 'Elector,' allowed parties, notably the Likud, to identify potential voters who had not yet cast their ballots and then pressure them to vote. Political commentator Amit Segal of Channel 12 News described the court's decision as "bad news for coalition parties," as it disrupts a key method for mobilizing voters on election day.

This landmark ruling is expected to significantly alter how election campaigns manage their digital operations and voter outreach efforts on election day, forcing parties to re-evaluate their strategies for encouraging turnout.