Voter Turnout in Israeli General Elections

Voting in elections is one of the main channels through which citizens in a democratic state express their attitudes and perceptions with respect to the political system. A decrease in voter turnout may indicate that politics and politicians have lessened in value in the public eye. In contrast, a high participation rate is a reflection of the public’s positive feelings toward the political system, since elections are regarded as a tool for creating responsiveness and responsibility of elected representatives. In the Knesset elections of 2013, voter turnout grew in comparison to the 2009 elections and stood at 67.8%. It was the second time in a row that voter turnout rose. At the same time, since 1999, voter turnout in the last five elections was more than 10 percent lower than in previous elections (when they averaged about 80%). Consequently, the trend, which shows a slight uptick, is inadequate.

This policy study addresses the issue of voter participation in Israel. It examines in depth the voting trends in Israel during the last decade as compared to other democracies and sketches a portrait of the Israeli who does not vote. A breakdown of the 2009 general election voting rates by region reveals substantial and disturbing differences in the rate of voter turnout among various communities in Israel. In part, it shows that voter turnout in the periphery islower than voter turnout in the center of the country.

Learning from the experience of other countries, we offer institutional methods for contending with the decrease in voter turnout in Israel. In our opinion, the reforms needed to encourage voter participation in the general elections are mainly to make the voting process more accessible to broader populations.

1. Making the voting process accessible

• The voter should be permitted to vote in a polling station where he is not registered.
• Election law should determine that a citizen may apply to the Central Election Committee with a request to transfer his polling station registration to his place of temporary residence. For example, it is possible to determine that from the moment elections are announced until a week prior to presenting one’s voter card the Central Election Committee will receive requests (exclusively via branches of the Israel Postal Authority or the Population and Immigration Authority) supported by a copy of the identification card or another identifying document (e.g., a valid student ID, a rental contract) that provides proof that the applicant does indeed temporarily live in another place. The Central Election Committee will then remove the voter’s name from the polling station to which he belongs and add his details to the new area
• A decision should be made to the effect that either every citizen or only designated groups, have the right to apply to the Central Election Committee with a request to transfer their registration to a particular polling station. If the legislature prefers to limit the possibility that every citizen can apply to have his place of residence changed, it is proposed that only designated groups be permitted to do so, for example, students interested in voting at a polling station near their place of study.

2. Adding mobile polling stations on election day

• Mobile polling stations should be placed at Ben-Gurion Airport. On Election Day, a mobile ballot box would be placed at the airport and those leaving the country on that day will be permitted to cast their vote there. It is proposed that a condition be added such that the voter must present an authorization attesting to his departure from the country (i.e., a flight ticket). Voting in a mobile ballot box will be carried out in double envelopes, as specified by law
• Mobile polling stations should be placed at institutions of higher learning. On Election Day, mobile ballot boxes would be placed at institutions of higher learning and will serve the student population which currently numbers more than 200,000). Only students who) present a valid student ID to the mobile polling station secretariat will be permitted to vote in the mobile ballot boxes. Voting in mobile ballot boxes will be conducted in a similar fashion to military voting - that is, double envelopes, as specified by law.

3. Instituting early voting - Election law should be amended and a section should be added to the list of sections on special populations that can exercise their right to vote at times prior to the official Election Day. In this context, the legislature should decide these issues:

• Appointed time for voting. When will early voting take place? For example, only on the twelfth day before elections, or between one and two weeks prior to Election Day.
• Place of voting. One option is to open several designated polling stations where early voting will take place. Another option (similar to Sweden) is to determine that early voting will take place in
  branches of the post office.
• Request to vote. This issue relates to making early voting dependent upon an official request to the Central Election Committee. It can be determined in law that only those submitting an official application for example, one month in advance) will be able to participate in early voting.
• Voting entitlement. The legislature has two options in this context: To allow every citizen to cast an early vote or to allow only designated groups of citizens to do so. We believe that the conditions are not yet ripe to adopt the following four reforms:
  
  
  • Implementing the obligation to vote. Although in about 30 countries including Australia and Belgium), the law requires citizens to vote in elections, we recommend that this mechanism not be adopted at the present time in Israel, mainly due to the difficulties we foresee in its enforcement. At the same time, we mention the availability of interim solutions, for example, the proposed bill dealing with “Denying Nonvoters the Right to Receive Salary for the Day of Elections,” that was submitted to the Knesset in June 2012.
  • Enabling citizens who are temporarily residing abroad or living abroad to vote. In Israel, voters such as these can greatly impact election results, influencing weighty issues in the fields of security and foreign policy, the economy and society, some of which are perceived as critical. If the legislature decides to promote reform on this issue, they must examine the issue from an international comparative perspective and give special attention to countries that conduct overseas voting but also set limitations. It is possible, for instance, to expand the right of citizens living abroad for a limited time to vote (for example, populations of students studying outside of Israel or citizens who are not living in the country for no more than a period of five years). The requirement of early registration can be added to this right to vote and thus it would be possible to know in advance the number of citizens residing abroad who will be participating in the elections. A comprehensive expansion of the right to vote that would include all Israeli citizens that are not in Israel on Election Day (including those who chose to leave the country and settle in other countries and whose number is estimated at 500,000 out of 5.6 million eligible voters) would, as mentioned, likely have a far-reaching effect on election results and on the Israeli public agenda and as such, is not recommended.
  • Voting by mail. At the time of this writing, we believe that the conditions are not yet ripe for use of the mechanism of voting through the post office. The two main reasons for this are: (a) fear of forgery and fraud in the elections; (b) implementation difficulties.
  • Voting by proxy. Voting by proxy is accepted in five prominent democracies (Belgium, Britain, the Netherlands, France, and Sweden). Despite this, we recommend against adopting this method in Israel due to the significant influence it is liable to have on election results and because of the negative and undesirable phenomena to which it cangive rise (negative impact on voting confidentiality, risk of biasing the outcome, and concern over coercion and/or voting irregularities).

It thus appears that despite the decline in the voting rate in Israel and its stabilization during the past decade at a relatively low average level, as compared to the past of approximately 65%, to date, the State has not seen fit to adopt any institutional solution to encourage voting and has chosen to maintain the status quo. In many respects, however, election law in Israel is outdated and unsuited to the technological era.

Therefore:

1. It is not logical for the citizen to cast his vote only at a specific ballot box, since today, with the click of a key, it is possible to cross-reference information about voters from anywhere in the world.
2. There is no rational reason not to enable additional populations (in addition to the military, sailors and Israeli emissaries in the Diaspora) to exercise their right to vote in early voting
3. It would be appropriate to re-examine the option of legally denying nonvoters their election-day salary.
4. More radical solutions, such as voting by mail and/or voting by proxy are not recommended for implementation in Israel as yet (although studies show that they do contribute to raising the voting rate) due to the above-mentioned concern for forgery and irregularities.
5. As for overseas voting – there is room to consider expanding the right to vote of citizens residing abroad for a limited period (such as students studying abroad). It is possible to make voting conditional upon preliminary registration.

The time has come for the Israeli legislature to act vigorously to implement mechanisms to encourage voting in Knesset elections, since leaving the situation as it is may perpetuate, and even reinforce, trends of apathy alienation, pessimism and lack of identification with the political system. Moreover, inaction with respect to voting in elections may, in the long run erode the basis of legitimacy of governing institutions.

Full Policy Paper (Hebrew)