Likud Returns to High Court Seeking to Revive Election Voter App
Translated & summarized from Now 14 by baba
The Likud party is petitioning Israel's Supreme Court to allow the use of the "Elector" app to identify voters at polling stations, a practice previously banned due to privacy concerns. The party claims it's essential for voter mobilization, while privacy groups warn of data misuse. The court's decision could significantly impact how Israeli elections are managed.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Likud seeks Supreme Court reversal of ban on identifying voters via the "Elector" app.
- The party argues the app is crucial for effective voter mobilization on election day.
- Privacy groups warn the app enables illegal political database creation and privacy breaches.
- A previous ruling by the Central Elections Committee chairman and Supreme Court banned the practice.
- The court distinguished between anonymous turnout reporting and identifiable voter information.
- The outcome could reshape election management strategies in Israel.
The Likud party is once again petitioning Israel's Supreme Court, known as the High Court of Justice (Bagatz), seeking to overturn a previous ruling that prohibited the transfer of identifiable voter information from polling stations. The party argues that the "Elector" application is a vital tool for mobilizing voters on election day. Privacy advocacy groups, however, warn of potential privacy violations and the misuse of political databases.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday to reconsider the petition filed by Likud and other groups to permit the use of the Elector app for registering and mobilizing voters. This legal battle has been ongoing since previous election cycles.
The original petition arose from Likud's use of the Elector app, designed for campaign field management, including targeted propaganda and voter encouragement. In practice, party representatives at polling stations used the app to report in real-time to campaign headquarters who had voted. In 2020, Likud aggressively promoted the app, with the then-Prime Minister urging supporters to install it and input data, leading to petitions alleging privacy and election integrity violations.
Previously, the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Solberg, ruled that transmitting voter names from within polling stations constituted an illegal invasion of privacy, potentially a criminal offense. The Supreme Court upheld this decision, establishing a definitive ban on party representatives reporting the identities of voters to campaign teams. However, the court did not prohibit the use of such apps for other purposes, nor did it address the existence of the political database itself. The court distinguished between anonymous reporting of overall turnout, which is permitted, and identifiable reporting including a voter's name and serial number, which is forbidden.
Likud's current petition aims to change this established precedent. The party contends that without the ability to identify who has voted, effective voter mobilization on election day is impossible, deeming it a central tool in modern campaigns. Conversely, privacy organizations argue that this constitutes a political database maintained year after year in violation of the law.
