Supreme Court Bans Real-Time Digital Vote Counting by Parties

Israel's Supreme Court, in a 2-1 decision, has prohibited poll workers and party observers from digitally counting and transmitting voter turnout data to their parties in real-time on election day. The ruling effectively overturns a directive from the Central Elections Committee that had permitted such digital reporting, even for quantitative data only.

The majority opinion, delivered by Justices Khaled Kabub and Ruth Ronen, with Justice David Mintz dissenting, stated that poll workers and observers are barred from using digital means to count voters at a specific polling station and relaying this information in real-time to their party. This decision stems from a petition filed by the Israeli Democracy Watch, which argued that the directive violated principles established in previous court rulings and administrative law.

The state, representing the Attorney General and the Central Elections Committee, had initially sought to dismiss the petition, arguing the directive did not permit the collection of personal voter information, only numerical turnout. The Likud party defended the directive, asserting that the quantitative count served a supervisory purpose, aiding in election integrity, preventing fraud, and assisting parties in their efforts to encourage voter turnout.

Israeli Democracy Watch hailed the ruling as a victory for election integrity and administrative law. The organization emphasized that poll workers should not function as operational arms for political parties, maintaining a necessary separation between election administration and campaign management. They called on the Elections Committee to ensure clear and enforceable guidelines for all poll workers.