Likud Urges Election Committee Chair to Revoke Ban on Reporting Voter Turnout Data

The Likud party has urgently appealed to Noam Solberg, chairman of the Central Elections Committee, demanding the reversal of his recent decision prohibiting party representatives from reporting which voters have arrived at polling stations on election day. The decision, made on August 4, was justified by Solberg on grounds of protecting voter privacy and the lack of explicit legal authorization for such data sharing. However, Likud argues this constitutes a significant and unprecedented change to election procedures "mid-game," undermining longstanding practices and harming established parties' ability to mobilize voters.

Likud's appeal, submitted through attorney Ilan Bombach, calls for either canceling the ruling or postponing its implementation until after the upcoming 26th Knesset elections. The party emphasizes that encouraging voter turnout is a vital democratic objective and that the decision impairs this goal. Prior to the formal appeal, Likud MK Avichai Boaron proposed a new mechanism whereby the Elections Committee itself would collect and distribute real-time turnout data to all parties, ensuring privacy and fairness without relying on party representatives at polling stations.

Separately, the Elections Committee accepted another Likud petition against a campaign video by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, which featured soldiers in uniform and AI-generated combat scenes. The committee ruled that the video improperly used public military assets, ordering Eizenkot to remove it from all social media accounts and pay Likud 5,000 shekels in legal fees. Eizenkot's party defended the video, claiming AI use did not constitute exploitation of public property.

The controversy highlights tensions over election transparency, voter privacy, and campaign conduct ahead of Israel's next parliamentary vote. Likud's public criticism included statements from Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who vowed noncompliance with the ban and accused Solberg of arbitrarily changing election rules. The committee chair clarified that his ruling reflects current legal standards without prejudging future policy.

The Likud party's demands and the committee's rulings will shape the operational framework for the upcoming elections and may prompt further legal and political debates on election day data handling and campaign regulations.