Blow to election system: High Court bans parties from collecting real-time data

The High Court of Justice accepted a petition by the Israeli Democracy Guard with a majority of two judges against one, prohibiting members of polling committees and party observers from digitally counting the number of voters who cast ballots and transmitting data in real time. Judges Khaled Kabub and Ruth Ronen supported the ban, while Judge David Mintz opposed. The ruling applies to all factions.

The High Court of Justice accepted a petition filed by the Israeli Democracy Guard association with a majority of two judges against one, prohibiting members of polling committees and observers on behalf of parties from collecting data on the number of voters who cast ballots using digital means and transmitting it in real time. The decision was made by Judges Khaled Kabub and Ruth Ronen, while Judge David Mintz opposed. The ruling applies to all factions and candidate lists, and its full reasoning will be published later. The ban concerns the use of digital means such as the Elector application, but does not prohibit all monitoring of voter turnout. The petition was filed against bodies of the Central Elections Committee, the Attorney General, and the Likud party, which was represented in the hearing. The decision is expected to require parties to change their working methods on election day.