TEL AVIV, October 27. /TASS/. Voter turnout at the elections to Israel’s Knesset, or parliament, reached 74.3% two hours before the closure of polling stations, TV Channel 12 reported.
According to it, this figure is a record for any election held in Israel since 1988. Furthermore, it has already surpassed the final turnout figure from the previous parliamentary elections, held in November 2022, when 70.63% of voters took part.
More than 12,000 polling stations opened on Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT) and will close 10:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. Moscow time). Shortly after they close, exit poll results will be announced and the vote count will begin. The elections are taking place amid heightened security measures; according to Israel’s Channel 12, a total of 20,000 police officers, border police, and volunteers are maintaining order. For its part, the army announced a blockade of the Palestinian territories and the closure of all checkpoints in the West Bank.
Parliamentary elections in Israel are held on party lists, with 36 parties vying for seats in parliament. The electoral threshold is 3.25%. AS many as 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote. The Central Elections Committee is expected to announce preliminary vote counts on October 29, and the final results of the elections are to be officially released no later than November 4. Once the official results are received, the president will begin consultations with representatives of the parties that have won seats in the Knesset, following which he will task one of the lawmakers with forming a new governing coalition.
