Israel election: Turnout at record levels at halfway stage

Who is eligible to vote?

Around 7.3 million Israelis (including around 1.2 million Palestinian citizens of Israel) are eligible to vote on Tuesday.

More than 640,000 young Israelis will be eligible to vote in a general election for the first time. 

Around 3.1 million Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank do not have the right to vote in Israeli elections, but 500,000 illegal settlers in those territories do.

A further 350,000 Palestinians live in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem and also cannot vote, whereas around 230,000 Israelis living there can.

The US-based non-profit America-Israel Democracy Coalition (AID Coalition) has organized a “Fly&Vote” initiative, with as many as 67,000 voters returning to Israel to participate in the election, based on surveys of expatriates and registration data.

The coalition said half are coming from the US, with others from Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Israel does not have postal voting. 

How does the voting system work?

Israel is a parliamentary democracy and voters elect a legislature rather than choosing their prime minister directly. Voters choose a party “list.”

Israel uses a proportional representation system under which 120 parliamentary seats are distributed roughly in proportion to a party’s share of the vote. 

To enter parliament (known as the Knesset), parties must receive at least 3.25% of valid votes, which is equivalent to roughly four seats.

The party which can command a majority of at least 61 seats is called upon to form a government. No single party has ever won an outright majority, so Israel has always been governed by coalitions. Polls suggest this year will be no different.

Unlike many other democracies around the world, Israel is not divided up into geographic electoral districts.

Rather than electing individual lawmakers to represent local areas, voters in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa all choose from the same party lists in one, single, nationwide constituency.

When polling stations close at 10 p.m. local time (9 p.m. CET), broadcasters will publish their first exit polls, offering an initial indication of the results. Official results are scheduled to be published on November 4.