Dateline Jerusalem – I received my voting card in the mail this week. Elections are coming up later this month, and I am anxious to participate in their democratic process. Although the system is supposed to be easy for new immigrants to understand, every time I have voted here I have become confused. There are 36 political parties. Each is represented by a Hebrew letter or combination of letters. The letters do not spell the name of the party you are voting for, and you do not vote for a candidate, only a party. Since no party ever has won a majority of seats in a national election, parties enter into coalitions and/or alliances to form a government.
Unlike the U.S., there is no Electoral College that determines the outcome of a national election. In Israel, popular vote prevails, every vote counting toward the final outcome. Therefore, every citizen gets the feeling his/her vote may determine the election. In the four days prior to voting, there can be no published polls, exit polls, or even predictions. This prevents people from being unduly influenced before the polls close. Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Citizens have plenty of time to get to the polls. Because Election Day is a paid national holiday and people do not have to go to work, most Israelis exercise their right to vote. If they have to work, then it is only supposed to be for part of the day. They can get free bus and train transportation if their place of employment is in a different city than their residence. There are even polls in hospitals to enable people to vote. Since there are no absentee ballots for Israelis living abroad, except for diplomats, often charter flights deliver planeloads of Israeli citizens to Israel to cast their ballots.
Israelis have an identity document called a teudat zehut that we must carry with us at all times. It has our ID number, address and photo. Before anyone can vote, a person must show this identification or an Israeli passport to the voter officials at the polling locations. Then it is checked against the voter list, which definitely cuts down on voter fraud. An envelope is given to voters while their IDs are held by the election officials. The voters then have private access to a tray of 36 pieces of paper, about the size of post-its, representing the political parties plus blank pieces of paper. The blank pieces of paper are provided so that a voter can write in the letter of the party chosen if the party's slips run out. This sometimes happens when a particular party gets most of the votes or when someone “steals” the slips of the “competition.” The voters place the slip of paper of the party of their choice into the envelope, seal it, drop it in the ballot box, and retrieve their teudat zehut from the election official. There are no voting machines that break down, no chads to punch, no ballots to mark. Sounds easy. But when you do not know Hebrew or Arabic, like me, this so-called simplified system of voting for “illiterates” is not so easy.
Many of Israel's political parties are formed to address specific issues. There are religious and anti-religious parties, parties for specific Jewish ethnic groups, Arab parties that call for the destruction of Israel, right-wing, left-wing and centrist parties. There are “green” parties, senior citizen or “pensioner” parties, and even a “Pirate” party. There seems to be a party for everyone. All citizens have the right to vote, no matter their religion, ethnicity, gender or political views.
Things will be easier this time for me because I finally am familiar with the letters representing the party of my choice. Can't wait to vote.
L'hitraot.
Shachar
