Election Day for the 26th Knesset: Everything Voters Need to Know
When and where can Israelis vote? What do they need to bring to the polling station? Can they vote at a polling station other than the one to which they are assigned? What should they do if ballot slips are missing or they suspect a threat to election integrity? All the answers ahead of the election for the 26th Knesset.
Any Israeli citizen who has turned 18 by Election Day, according to either the Hebrew or Gregorian calendar, whichever comes first, and is listed in the electoral register is eligible to vote. The register is compiled from the Ministry of Interior’s Population Registry.
Only a small minority of Israelis who are abroad on Election Day are permitted to vote from overseas. Voting at Israeli diplomatic missions abroad is limited to narrowly defined groups specified in the Knesset Elections Law, including civil servants, certain representatives of national institutions, and some of their family members. Everyone else must return to Israel to vote. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 810,000 eligible voters live abroad. Israel Democracy Institute researchers have recommended extending overseas voting to some of these citizens: those who are temporarily abroad and whose lives remain centered in Israel.
Most polling stations across Israel are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. In small communities with up to 350 eligible voters, polling stations are open only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., as are some special polling stations, such as those in hospitals. Anyone who arrives before closing time and is waiting in line is entitled to vote even after the polling station’s official closing time. Voting at some special polling stations may take place on different days altogether: voting at Israeli diplomatic missions abroad ended on October 16, and voting at some military bases began on October 21.
The Central Elections Committee’s presidium, comprising its chair, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, and his four deputies, who represent political parties, has the authority to delay the opening of polling stations, suspend and resume voting, and postpone the closing time of specific polling stations by up to 24 hours in special circumstances, such as security incidents. Polling station committee secretaries may also suspend and resume voting for security reasons. Certain military commanders also have general powers to order premises, including polling stations, to be closed and evacuated, for example during an enemy attack (click here for more information in this explainer about postponing elections).
As a rule, each voter may vote only at the polling station to which they are assigned on the basis of their address in the Population Registry, under the principle of assignment to a specific polling station. Before the election, voters are sent a notice giving the location of their polling station. They can also obtain this information through the Ministry of Interior’s information services.
Double-envelope voting, referred to in law as voting in “outer envelopes,” is a special arrangement for various groups of voters, as explained below. It involves two envelopes: an inner envelope containing the ballot slip, with no identifying information, and an outer envelope bearing the voter’s identifying details. These votes are not counted at the polling station. Instead, they are sent directly to the Central Elections Committee and counted only after a check confirms that the voter has not also voted at their assigned polling station. Once this has been verified, the inner envelopes are separated from the outer envelopes bearing the identifying details, and the votes are counted without any way of linking voters to their chosen ballots.
Double-envelope voting is used at special polling stations serving specific groups: as noted above, polling stations at Israeli diplomatic missions abroad for those eligible to vote there; military polling stations for soldiers; hospital polling stations for patients and some hospital staff; and polling stations in prisons and detention facilities for prisoners, detainees, and police and prison officers serving there. In addition, under a temporary provision for the 26th Knesset election, designated polling stations will be set up for evacuees. Special polling stations are also set up in various social care facilities.
For the 2026 election, there is no statutory requirement to set up special polling stations in residential care homes for older people, contrary to the Central Elections Committee’s proposal and the temporary provisions adopted for the two previous elections. This is due to opposition from the coalition majority on the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. However, the Central Elections Committee has itself arranged special polling stations for people with limited mobility (see below) to be set up in many such homes, enabling all their residents to vote at an accessible polling station where they live.
Double envelopes are also used by people who vote at a special polling station for people with limited mobility instead of at their assigned polling station. By law, every community must have a polling station accessible to people with limited mobility, and larger communities must have more than one. These stations accommodate both regular voting by voters assigned to them and double-envelope voting by people with limited mobility assigned to other polling stations. There is a distinction between regular accessible polling stations and special accessible polling stations, which we will not discuss in detail here.
To vote at such a polling station, a person with limited mobility must sign a form declaring that they have a mobility limitation, unless their disability is visible or they present appropriate documentation. In practice, in recent elections many eligible voters who have no mobility limitations have taken advantage of this option, particularly those who live far from their officially registered address, including students, temporary workers, and many others.
Special arrangements also apply to certain other groups. For example, police officers may vote at any polling station; polling station committee secretaries, and in some cases committee members and observers, are entitled to vote at the polling stations where they are stationed; and women staying in domestic violence shelters may vote at any polling station designated for people with limited mobility. These votes are also cast in double envelopes.
In recent elections, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, both the number and the proportion of votes cast in double envelopes have risen sharply. In the 2022 election, the Central Elections Committee received approximately 463,000 double envelopes, accounting for nearly 10% of all votes. These figures can be expected to be higher in 2026, given the large numbers of soldiers mobilized and people evacuated from their homes, as well as the widespread practice of declaring a mobility limitation in order to vote at a special accessible polling station, even though many of those doing so have no such limitation. Bills introduced in recent years, including at the initiative of the Central Elections Committee, have sought to address this practice and reduce the number of double envelopes, which, as noted, require a more complex counting process. These proposals would allow any voter to choose their polling location, even if it differs from the location associated with their officially registered address, provided they do so no later than a few weeks before the election (see the legal opinion in support of this proposal by Israel Democracy Institute researchers).
You do not need to bring your voter notification card. You must present one of the accepted forms of identification: an Israeli identity card, even if it has expired; a valid Israeli passport; a valid Israeli driver’s license; or a valid military identity card. Certain officials may also identify themselves using other forms of identification specified by law.
Election Day is a statutory day off. Employees who have worked for their employer for at least 14 consecutive days before the election are generally entitled to their regular pay for the day, without having it deducted from their annual leave. Employees who are entitled to the day off but nevertheless work are entitled, under certain conditions, to special benefits, such as higher pay.
However, many services and sectors continue to operate, and their employees are not necessarily entitled to the day off. These include public transportation, healthcare, security and emergency services, restaurants, hotels, and gas stations. Employers are required to allow eligible voters to go to their polling station and vote. Some of these employees are also entitled to higher pay.
On arriving at the polling station, the voter presents an identification document to the polling station committee secretary. Once their name has been located on the voter list, they receive a voting envelope and enter the voting booth.
Behind the screen are ballot slips for the lists contesting the election. Each slip bears the list’s name and its identifying letter or letters. The voter chooses one slip, places it in the envelope, closes the envelope, and returns to the polling station committee. They then personally place the envelope in the ballot box.
Every polling station should have ballot slips for all the lists contesting the election. If slips for a particular list are missing, notify the polling station committee so that they can be replenished. Another option is to use a blank white ballot slip, which should also be available behind the screen, and write the desired list’s identifying letters, or both its letters and its name, on it in blue pen. Such a ballot counts as a valid vote. A blank white slip with nothing written on it counts as an invalid vote.
Circumstances that may lead to a vote being invalidated include: any mark on the ballot slip or envelope that could identify the voter; an envelope containing slips for different lists; an envelope containing four or more slips for the same list; a blank white slip, or a white slip that has not been filled out in accordance with the legal requirements described above; an envelope other than those supplied by the Central Elections Committee; or ballot slips that do not meet the requirements of the law and the Central Elections Committee’s decisions regarding size, color, and other specifications. See the explainer on invalid votes.
To avoid mistakes, it is best to use just one valid printed ballot slip, place it in the official envelope, and avoid adding any markings to either the slip or the envelope.
Each polling station has a polling station committee made up of representatives of factions in the outgoing Knesset, usually three factions. Every candidate list that does not have a representative on that polling station’s committee, including lists that were not represented in the outgoing Knesset, may send an observer to the station. Central Elections Committee personnel work alongside them: two polling station committee secretaries and usually an election integrity inspector.
As a rule, voters enter the voting booth alone to protect the secrecy of the ballot and prevent pressure from being exerted on them. An exception applies to voters who, because of illness or disability, cannot carry out the practical steps involved in voting on their own. They may be assisted by an accompanying person, subject to the restrictions set out in law.
As a rule, taking photographs or filming is prohibited inside the polling place, including inside the voting booth. The ban is intended to protect the secrecy of voting, including whether a particular person has voted, and to prevent situations in which voters are required to produce a photograph or recording as proof that they voted at all or voted for a particular list, for example in return for payment or as a result of pressure.
This prohibition applies to voters and party representatives at polling stations. Central Elections Committee representatives, particularly election integrity inspectors and, in some cases, polling station committee secretaries, may take photographs or film in specified circumstances and subject to certain conditions, solely to safeguard election integrity when there is reason to suspect it is being compromised. They, too, are prohibited from recording the act of voting itself.
Everyone has the right to keep their voting choice private. No one may demand that they reveal whom they voted for or provide documentation of their vote. Any threat, coercion, or promise of a benefit in connection with voting for a particular list, or with voting at all (or not voting), is against the law.
On Election Day, all election campaigning, including verbal persuasion and the distribution of printed campaign material, is prohibited within the polling place, including the building and its grounds, and within five or ten meters of its entrance, depending on the type of entrance and building. Election campaigning is permitted outside these areas.
If you suspect interference with voting or a violation of election law, such as an attempt to prevent someone from voting, impersonation of another voter, pressure or threats directed at voters, or an attempt to compromise the secrecy of the ballot, report it to the polling station committee secretary or the election integrity inspector. You can also report it to the Central Elections Committee’s hotline. Suspected criminal offenses or violence should also be reported to the police.
Yes. The Central Elections Committee publishes turnout figures throughout Election Day. A significant change is expected in the 2026 election: according to an announcement, the committee will publish turnout figures for each regular polling station at least four times during the day, in addition to nationwide figures.
Under recent decisions by the chair of the Central Elections Committee and rulings by the High Court of Justice, polling station committee representatives are prohibited from taking voting information out of polling stations and passing it to political parties, including who has voted or how many people have voted. This differs from previous elections, when information identifying people who had come to vote was shared, including through the Elector app.
