Senior political officials expressed concern over low voter turnout in Tuesday's elections, saying that the prolonged political crisis in Israel – Israelis will go to the polls for the fourth time on March 23 – has resulted not only in voter fatigue but in growing public apathy.
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The March 2020 elections saw a robust voter turnout of 71.52%, but there are no guarantees that this trend will translate into Tuesday's polls.
Adding to these concerns is the coronavirus pandemic, as many voters could opt to stay home rather than risk potential exposure to COVID-19 at a polling station.
Meanwhile, the Israel Police is gearing up to secure Election Day.
Some 20,000 police officers will be deployed nationwide to ensure an orderly vote.
A source privy with the preparations told Israel Hayom that one of the biggest concerns in the fake news on social media regarding the presence of coronavirus patients in polling stations in an attempt to drive voters away.
The Central Election Committee has set up special polling stations for COVID patients and voters who are quarantined to protect public health as much as possible. Special sanitation measures and social distancing protocols will be imposed in ballots nationwide, so as to minimize the risk to public health.
The Police Cyber Crimes Division will monitor online chatter to thwart such incidents. Learning from past experience 400 polling stations have been flagged at being at risk of voter tampering.
Police Operations Directorate Commander Brig. Gen.Shimshon Nachmani said that the police had no intelligence indicating any specific intent to create public disturbances on Election Day, but stressed the troop are "prepared for any extreme-case scenario."
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