Likud App Allegedly Enables Voter Tracking, Violating Court Order

A former senior official in the Likud headquarters has filed an affidavit with the High Court of Justice and the Attorney General, claiming that a new Likud app, "Victory 26," allows for listening to and tracking activities at polling stations, and collecting data on voter identities. This allegedly violates a High Court ruling from September 17 that prohibited the transfer of voter identity and arrival time information. The Central Election Committee, with a coalition majority, had overturned an earlier decision by the Election Committee chairman, leading to the petition.

According to the affidavit by David (Dudi) Rechter, who volunteered as head of computing and "Elector" for the Likud in the November 2022 elections, the High Court's decision can be easily circumvented. He states that the presence of Likud representatives at polling stations, combined with the requirement for poll chairmen to announce voters' names and serial numbers aloud, allows for the unique identification of voters and their voting times. Rechter argues that leaving a smartphone visible at the polling station could serve as a listening device, creating a wide opening for violating the court's ruling.

Rechter also revealed that in the 2022 elections, the Likud developed a backup app, "Victory 22," in case their primary app, "Elector," faced cyberattacks. He explained that even reporting via WhatsApp, by sending a voter's three-digit identifier, could be processed by automated engines to update databases. While this capability was not fully utilized in 2022 due to the continued legality of "Elector" and lower technological capabilities, the incentive to use such methods is now greater, with advanced AI capabilities available.

The affidavit was submitted by Attorney Yuval Yoaz, chairman of Democracy Watch. The article notes that the Likud had requested and received approval from the Central Election Committee to transfer numerical data in real-time, allowing electronic devices, including smartphones, in polling stations. While using smartphones to broadcast voter names and ID numbers via bots or recordings would be illegal, passive data transfer without manual operation would be difficult to detect.

Earlier, Attorney Shahar Ben Meir had requested a ban on all phones in polling stations, but this was rejected by the committee's legal advisor, Yifat Siminovsky. She ruled that regulations only prohibit calls and the use of communication devices when a voter is present or during vote counting. The committee permitted quantitative counting via phone under specific conditions, including no identification, no individual event documentation like voting times, no disruption to voting, and no photography or recording.