The Knesset told Israel’s High Court of Justice on Wednesday to reject petitions challenging the election of attorney Michael Ravilo as state comptroller. In its response, the Knesset said that although the episode was “unpleasant,” no defect was shown that would justify annulling the vote.
The legal advisers argued that neither Israeli law, nor the Knesset’s rules, nor court precedent explicitly bars an MK from recording their own vote behind the voting booth curtain in a secret ballot. They said the petitioners failed to show a flaw that went to the heart of the process or one that could have affected the result, which they described as the legal standard for invalidating an election.
The Knesset also rejected claims that Likud lawmakers were instructed or forced to film their ballots. It said the people alleged to have issued such instructions denied it firmly, and that the opposition coordinator said at the time she believed those denials. According to the filing, the evidence cited in the petitions, including discrepancies in voting results and anonymous MK claims, was not solid enough to support annulling the election.
The Knesset noted that after the disorder during the second vote, the coalition and opposition reached a three-part compromise: the second election was canceled and rerun, filming instructions were clarified as illegal, and bringing phones behind the curtain was not banned. The filing urged the court to exercise restraint, calling voiding an election an extreme step, and said a new vote today, given changes in the Knesset and political balance, could produce a different outcome regardless of the alleged flaw.
