United Torah Judaism Seeks Workarounds After High Court Vote Ban

United Torah Judaism (UTJ) is actively seeking new methods to track voter turnout on election day following a Supreme Court ruling that prohibits party representatives at polling stations from relaying real-time information about who has voted. Campaign teams are reportedly in urgent discussions to devise an alternative mechanism for encouraging voters to cast their ballots under the new regulations.

In past elections, Haredi parties, including UTJ factions like Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah, relied on detailed data from polling stations to identify supporters who had not yet voted and to focus their get-out-the-vote efforts. This practice allowed them to directly contact undecided voters and urge them to reach the polls.

Several potential solutions are being considered by UTJ. One proposal involves establishing a dedicated hotline where voters would be asked to call and confirm they have voted after leaving the polling station. Another idea suggests that prominent rabbis could encourage public registration after voting. However, both methods face significant challenges, including the inability to verify self-reported votes and the potential for voters to falsely claim they have voted to avoid further contact.

An alternative being explored is deploying activists outside polling stations to identify voters entering or leaving and request their names for tracking purposes. This approach also has limitations, as voters are not obligated to identify themselves. A more decentralized model is also under review, where numerous activists would each be responsible for a few dozen voters, contacting them to ensure they vote and offering assistance.

The new restrictions represent a substantial shift for Haredi parties, impacting a long-standing strategy for boosting voter turnout. The issue has seen legal back-and-forth, with Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Solberg initially ruling against the practice, a decision later overturned by the committee, only for the Supreme Court to ultimately strike down the committee's decision. The court cited a lack of explicit legal authorization and a violation of privacy rights, deeming information about voting status personal data that cannot be shared with parties for campaign purposes.

This challenge comes at a critical time, as Haredi parties are already working to increase turnout amidst calls from within the Haredi community to abstain from voting, partly in protest over stalled draft exemption legislation. Anti-Zionist groups, such as Satmar Hasidism, are also reportedly encouraging boycotts, sometimes offering financial incentives. In response, Rabbi Dov Lando, a prominent Haredi leader, has strongly condemned calls to boycott the elections, labeling them a "great crime" and "great foolishness or great wickedness."

UTJ is also strategically downplaying the threat from the new "Haredi Public" party, while simultaneously attempting to appeal to the modern, working Haredi demographic that the new party targets. The party's new chairman, MK Yaakov Asher, has met with business figures and has been seen engaging with this segment of the community. UTJ stated they are developing operational plans for the elections to unite all supporters.