Israeli Election Committee Chair Rejects Likud's Request to Reveal Voter Identities

Noam Solberg, chairman of Israel's Central Elections Committee, rejected Likud's request to reconsider a decision prohibiting party representatives at polling stations from transmitting real-time information about voter identities to their parties. Solberg clarified that this ruling does not change election laws near the voting date but rather enforces an existing privacy protection clause under the Privacy Protection Law. He noted that concerns about the legality of sharing voter identity information have been raised by election committee heads in recent years.

Alongside the decision, Solberg invited political factions and other involved parties to propose solutions that would encourage voter turnout without compromising voter privacy. After reviewing these proposals, the committee decided to publish aggregated voter turnout rates at each regular polling station at least four times on election day. These statistics will be equally accessible to all parties, enabling them to promote voter participation without revealing whether any specific individual has voted.

The Central Elections Committee emphasized that the data shared will be aggregate only, preventing identification of individual voters. This approach aims to balance parties' ability to boost turnout with the protection of citizens' privacy and the integrity of the elections.