news
Opinions and interpretations
The "neighboring" country hopes that election day will also be fine
Polling stations for isolators and polling station spacing do not prevent health hazards, and may create discrimination between different populations.
The Central Election Commission is limited in its power to make adjustments on Election Day if there is an increase in morbidity, so the right to vote is in jeopardy.
Even before the next crisis, it is essential that the Knesset provide a legislative solution
Tags
Election day
Corona virus
Ronen Avraham and Yuval Erez
Friday, 05 March 2021, 19:01 Updated: 19:03
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on general
Share on general
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
0 comments
Organization and disinfection of polling stations ahead of Election Day, Shoham, February 15, 2021 (Photo: Reuven Castro)
These days as Israel rolls into an election adventure under unprecedented conditions.
The coefficient of infection is starting to rise again and there is a fear that many Israelis will be denied the right to vote.
Although even in March last year the election campaign was conducted with the Corona in the background, then there were a few patients in the country and only thousands of isolates next to them, a situation in which it is possible to make do with spot adjustments.
The Corona's influence on the possibility of exercising the right to vote is of particular significance because even by its most "lean" definition, democracy is based on universal suffrage, in order to express the will of the majority.
Experience shows that election procedures have a significant effect on the rate of participation in them and therefore also on the legitimacy of the results.
Indeed, the situation in Israel is worrying compared to other countries, due to the outdated approach to exercising the means of choice, which allow only physical voting, in one day, using "ballot": attaching a person to one ballot defined by the Ministry of the Interior.
Unlike in other countries, in Israel there is no legal option for alternative voting methods, such as early voting or the use of new electronic voting technologies.
But the seemingly "technical" election procedures have a real impact on the results.
By comparison, in regional electoral practices, the concern is that those with authority to determine the boundaries of constituencies will tilt the boundaries in order to weaken certain populations.
Such intentional bias is known as "germination," when in the political history of the United States it is associated with racial discrimination.
For example, as restrictions on different areas ("orange" and "red") are imposed on election day, similar concerns may arise about those who have the authority to influence the criteria.
This is especially so if there is a correlation between the color of the area and the significant political affiliation of most of its residents or their national and religious identity.
In the absence of an adequate legal infrastructure, the Central Election Commission is limited in its power to make adjustments to the point of fear of sufficient exercise of the right to vote.
Adjustments such as polling station spacing, the establishment of polling stations for the isolated and the maintenance of social distance do not provide a comprehensive solution to the health danger and may create discrimination between different populations: between vaccinated and unvaccinated, between young and old, or between localities with different morbidity levels.
Difficulties are also likely to arise in the context of the special solutions - will the "polling stations for the isolated" be sufficiently sliced in the periphery?
Will voting for them be in the "vote and go" format which might make it difficult for people without a car (and indirectly for a less affluent population)?
More on Walla!
Within a week: The number of kindergartens that closed following the Corona eruption doubled
To the full article
Ballot boxes in Rosh HaAyin, March 2, 2020 (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Assuming that many are vaccinated and that the vaccines are found to be very effective, it is to be hoped that the existing adjustments will be sufficient to hold elections that reasonably fulfill the right to vote.
However, this is just a "plaster" and not a depth solution.
Even before the next crisis, it is essential that the Knesset provide a comprehensive legislative solution to the problem.
Thus, it is appropriate to create in advance (and not "during the game") an outline of "emergency elections" as a shelf product that will be activated given a sudden crisis and according to its nature.
Such an arrangement could include, for example, allowing patients to vote without ballot papers, through a proxy, or at a moving ballot box.
For "isolated" non-verified patients and even for the general population, consideration may be given to pre-mailed voting, allocation of defined hours for voting to various voters to ensure load regulation and more.
To this end, the extension of Election Day for a short period of several days should not be ruled out.
These steps are not currently possible within the framework of the election laws in force in Israel.
In various states in the United States for example the alternative of pre-voting has significantly improved voting rates, in a way that even at-risk populations can vote safely in a world that was then vaccine-free.
It is possible that some of these measures deserve to be adopted as a reform of election law even on a regular basis, such as the relaxation of the principle of confinement to the ballot box and the consideration of the possibility of early voting in a number of centers.
We should not underestimate the difficulty of convening elections that take place during a health crisis.
Their existence without striving for high participation rates in all sectors undermines the most important basis for trust in the democratic system.
Failure to address this amounts to an intolerable denial of the right that underlies all rights.
Prof. Ronen Avraham is a lecturer and researcher in the Faculty of Law of Tel Aviv University.
Yuval Erez is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Law
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on general
Share on general
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
0 comments