Israel's Supreme Court Bans Transfer of Voter Data by Parties

Israel's Supreme Court has ruled against the transfer of voter turnout information from polling stations to political parties via digital means. The court stated that election committee members and observers representing parties will not be permitted to use digital tools to count voters who have cast ballots at a specific polling station or to transmit this real-time data to their respective parties. This decision was made by a majority vote, with Justices Khalid Kabub and Rot Ronen in favor, and Justice David Mints dissenting.

The ruling stems from a request made by the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in August. Likud had petitioned the Head of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Solberg, to cancel or postpone a ban on using electoral applications and software for tracking voters. These tools have historically allowed party representatives at polling stations to report voter identities to campaign headquarters throughout election day, a practice widely used by Likud and other major parties in past elections.

Solberg had previously prohibited election committee members and party observers from transmitting information about voters who had cast their ballots, citing privacy concerns. The Likud party's request followed this decision. The applications in question enabled parties to link data collected by their representatives at polling stations with extensive voter databases, which included names, addresses, phone numbers, and indicators of political stances and past voting patterns.

This mechanism allowed parties to identify individuals who had not yet voted and subsequently contact them via messages or phone calls. In some instances, it also facilitated the dispatch of activists to voters' homes or the arrangement of transportation to polling stations.