The Supreme Court has issued a definitive ruling on a foundational legal issue regarding Israeli election day procedures, deciding unanimously that political parties may not receive reports or track citizens who have exercised their right to vote. The verdict was delivered by Justices Yael Willner, Alex Stein, and Khaled Kabub, who upheld petitions filed against the Central Elections Committee’s earlier decision. The original committee decision had permitted party representatives at polling stations to transmit real-time data concerning individuals who had voted or abstained.
In the primary opinion, Justice Willner noted that this practice was legally deficient due to the lack of explicit statutory authorization, a requirement under the principle of administrative legality. Furthermore, the justices emphasized that the transmission of such data constitutes a substantive violation of the right to privacy and conflicts with Section 2(9) of the Protection of Privacy Law. The court clarified that the Elections Committee lacks the authority to approve such actions without clear and explicit legislative backing.
This ruling follows a week in which the court issued an interim order against the committee’s decision, which had previously overturned a ruling by the committee chairman, Justice Noam Sohlberg. During legal proceedings, party representatives argued that the change caused significant operational difficulties. Attorney Ilan Bombach, representing the Likud party, described halting the practice as a severe blow to parties with organized voter databases. Conversely, groups such as the Movement for Quality Government, which petitioned against the move, welcomed the decision. They argued that information accessed through polling station roles should not be used as a tracking tool, as it could be used to exert pressure on voters.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin expressed harsh criticism of the ruling, alleging that the court was attempting to skew election results and invent new legal rules to influence the political system. The verdict definitively closes the door on the ability of political parties to operate voter surveillance networks on election day and reinforces protections for the secrecy and anonymity of voters in the democratic election system.