In a dramatic pre-election ruling, the Supreme Court determined on Thursday that political parties' use of the 'Elector' app to receive real-time reports on citizens who have not exercised their right to vote is illegal. The ruling, authored by Justice Yael Willner with the concurrence of Justices Alex Stein and Khaled Kabub, overturns the Central Elections Committee’s decision from earlier this week. The Committee had previously approved the app's use in a 19-to-11 vote, following a proposal led by Adv. Ilan Bombach on behalf of the Likud party. However, following a petition against the decision, the High Court intervened and ruled that the practice fails to meet the test of legality.
In her opinion, Justice Willner emphasized that there is no explicit legal authority allowing parties to engage in such practices, consistent with the principle of administrative legality. Furthermore, the court determined that monitoring citizens to determine whether or not they have voted constitutes a violation of the right to privacy, as defined in Section 2(9) of the Privacy Protection Law. The ruling noted that the Central Elections Committee exceeded its authority by authorizing party representatives at polling stations to act in this manner without clear legislative anchoring.
During legal proceedings, Adv. Bombach argued that preventing the use of the app on short notice before the election causes significant damage to his party, as it is a technological tool into which substantial resources have been invested over the years. Conversely, Justice Willner highlighted the importance of protecting voter autonomy, noting that an individual is entitled to not have their actions monitored on election day. The legal debate shifted from the technical authority of the Elections Committee to the substantive question regarding the infringement on citizens' autonomy. This ruling effectively prohibits this technological practice in the current election cycle and sets clear boundaries for data collection on citizens within polling stations.