The High Court of Justice has recently upheld petitions filed against a decision by the Central Elections Committee, which sought to allow political parties to receive real-time updates on election day regarding the identity of citizens who exercised their right to vote or abstained. In a panel consisting of Justices Yael Willner, Alex Stein, and Khaled Kabub, it was ruled unanimously that this practice does not meet legal standards. As reported by News 13, the majority opinion, authored by Justice Willner, clarifies that the Central Elections Committee exceeded its authority.
The court determined that there is no legal source of authority to allow party representatives to act in this manner, and that the principle of administrative legality requires explicit statutory authorization, which is absent in this case. Beyond the lack of administrative authority, the court emphasized that transmitting such information to parties constitutes a direct violation of voters' privacy rights. According to the ruling, this action violates the prohibition set forth in Section 2(9) of the Privacy Protection Law.
Information collected at polling stations cannot be used as a tool for partisan monitoring. During the legal proceedings, representatives of the Likud party expressed strong opposition to ending the practice, arguing that it represents a change to an existing custom that harms the party's ability to conduct its election operations efficiently. Attorney Ilan Bombach, representing the party, argued that the ban causes significant damage to Likud due to the proprietary databases and software the party has developed over many years.
Conversely, Justice Khaled Kabub questioned during the hearing whether the test for the legality of the practice should be based on a party's wealth of databases and historical voter registries. The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners, welcomed the decision, noting that it serves as an important pillar in protecting the integrity of the elections and every citizen's right to vote without external pressure. The ruling closes the door on using party representatives at polling stations as an intelligence source for real-time voting status.
The practical implication is that in the upcoming election, party representatives will be limited to their role as observers and will not be able to engage in collecting data on specific individuals who have arrived or failed to arrive at the polls. By doing so, the High Court clarified that voter privacy takes precedence over partisan interests in data, even if the party possesses advanced technological means to process that information.