Voting for the 24th Knesset will begin on Wednesday night as 104 voting stations in 99 Israeli embassies and consulates across the globe open their doors to some 4,000 Israeli diplomats and representatives stationed abroad.
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The Israeli missions in Morocco, Dubai and Abu Dhabi will make history, as Israelis have never before voted from those countries. The number of eligible voters will be 25% lower this election compared to the last, from around 5,000 to around 4,000, due to the coronavirus pandemic (family members of many Israeli diplomats abroad have remained in Israel, etc.).
Voting will begin at around 10 p.m. at the Israeli Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, and end in two days (March 12) at 6 a.m. in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Unlike voting in Israel, representatives abroad are required to fill out their vote on a blank piece of paper. The greatest number of eligible voters (550) will cast their ballots at the Israeli consulate in New York, the Israeli Embassy in Paris (160) and the embassy in London (140). The smallest Israeli mission is in the Dominican Republic, where there are only four eligible voters.
The Israeli Central Elections Committee invests a great deal in terms of money and logistics to ensure this voting process takes place without a hitch. Despite these efforts, however, turnout has been unimpressive in recent years and is even lower than voter turnout in Israel. In the election for the 21st Knesset, just 76% (of 5,075 eligible voters) cast their ballots. In the election for the 22nd Knesset just 69% (of 5,086 eligible voters) cast their ballots, and in the election for the 23rd Knesset, only 66% (of 5,231 eligible voters) exercised their right to vote, compared to 71.5% of eligible voters in Israel.
The overall cost of operating these voting stations abroad is NIS 885,000. Once the voting period ends at all Israeli missions across the globe, the ballots will be flown to Israel and stored in one place. They will only be counted on March 23, the day of the election.
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