Voting data to be transferred to parties in real time? The debate, and the High Court's criticism: 'Crossing every boundary'

The High Court of Justice is deliberating a petition against the permit to transfer real-time voting data to political parties. The judges criticized the decision, while the state and Likud defended it as essential for oversight and voter turnout.

Less than a week before the 2026 elections, the High Court of Justice is hearing a petition against the decision of the acting director-general of the Central Elections Committee, Dean Libneh, which allows polling station committee members and observers to transmit real-time data on voter turnout at each polling station to party headquarters. Judges Khaled Kabub and Ruth Ronen sharply criticized the permit, with Kabub warning of 'crossing every boundary' and 'tens of thousands of reports' instead of four daily updates. Judge Ronen questioned the faction's connection to election oversight. The state, represented by attorney Avi Milikovsky, argued that the information transfer is intended for supervision, control, and voter encouragement. Likud's representative, attorney Ilan Bombach, claimed it clarifies the existing situation rather than changing the law, and that party representatives are representatives of democracy. The petitioner, the Israeli Democracy Guard Association, argued there is no legal basis for such information transfer. The judges issued a conditional order solely for efficiency reasons, and the state requested a ruling on the same day.

Voting data to be transferred to parties in real time? The debate, and the High Court's criticism: 'Crossing every boundary'