Israel's Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Real-Time Voter Data Reporting

Israel's Supreme Court on Wednesday heard a petition challenging a decision that allows party representatives at polling stations to report the number of voters in real-time via mobile phones. The Israeli Democracy Watch organization is seeking to overturn the decision by Acting Director General of the Central Elections Committee, Dean Livneh, which permitted this practice at the Likud party's request. Attorney Avi Milikovsky, representing the Elections Committee, urged the justices to issue a ruling on the petition the same day.

The petitioners argue that the decision contradicts previous Supreme Court rulings and Elections Committee decisions that prohibited transmitting information about voters' identities from polling stations, including through the "Elector" application. They contend that the new directive creates a sense of surveillance among voters and undermines the ability to enforce the court's ban on reporting voter identities. The organization stated that it is impossible to place a supervisor behind every polling committee member to monitor their every keystroke, and that while a clear rule against using phones for party data transmission would be enforceable, allowing phone use for reporting voter counts while prohibiting identity data transmission fundamentally compromises enforcement.

The petitioners further explained that the difficulty in enforcement stems from the decision allowing party representatives to use the same digital tools that could be used to transmit identifying voter information. They claim that polling station secretaries and election integrity monitors will be unable to distinguish whether a representative typing on a mobile phone is reporting only the voter count, as permitted, or also transmitting personal details to their party, which is forbidden by the Supreme Court. The ability to use phones and applications for ongoing reporting will make it harder to identify and prevent violations of the ban.

Applications like "Elector," extensively used by parties such as Likud, Shas, and United Torah Judaism, enable party representatives at polling stations to report voter identities on election day, thus identifying who has not yet voted. These applications are also used for get-out-the-vote efforts by documenting contact with potential voters and sending targeted messages. Their operation relies on processing personal information in digital databases, often managed by external vendors for the parties. In a previous ruling concerning the legality of such applications, the Supreme Court determined that the Elections Committee lacks the legal authority to permit party representatives to transmit information about the identities of citizens who came to vote.