October 23, 2026
A few days before the Israeli elections, the Supreme Court issued a dramatic decision prohibiting members of ballot box committees and observers from using digital means to count voters and transmitting their data to the parties immediately, in a move that was met with strong opposition from the Likud Party.
According to a report published by journalist Gilad Morag in the Maariv newspaper, today, Thursday, the Supreme Court accepted the petition of the “Israeli Democracy Guard” organization against the instructions of the Central Elections Commission, by a majority of two judges, Khaled Kabob and Ruth Ronen, in exchange for a dissenting opinion from Judge David Mintz.
This ruling practically eliminates the possibility of sending instant digital reports on the numbers of voters to parties and electoral lists, even if that data is limited to total numbers devoid of voter identities, which ends a mechanism that parties were relying on to monitor voting rates and move their rules moment by moment.
The petition was submitted by lawyers Yuval Yoaz, Doron Barkat, Ayala Hongman, and Ohad Shafak, based on the fact that the instructions of the Acting Director General of the Election Commission, Dean Livna, contradict the decisions of the Chairman of the Commission and the ruling of the Supreme Court in the “Elector” case, in addition to violating the principle of legitimacy of public administration, and creating a feeling of surveillance that weakens the prohibition of individual reports and undermines equality between lists.
For its part, the state, represented by the government’s judicial advisor and the Central Elections Commission, called for the petition to be rejected, explaining that the instructions do not allow collecting personal information or photographing and registering voters, but rather are limited to reporting total numbers for purposes other than the prohibited, considering that the mobile phone ban only applies to violating privacy and secrecy of the vote.
In the same context, the Likud Party, through its lawyer Ilan Baumbach, opposed the petition, considering that quantitative voter counting is an essential oversight tool to ensure the integrity of the electoral process, prevent fraud, and uncover violations, as well as its contribution to helping parties urge their supporters to go to the polls.
The “Israeli Democracy Guard” organization welcomed the decision, stressing that poll workers perform a public and official function and are not an operational arm of party headquarters, considering the ruling a victory for the principle of integrity of elections and the separation between their management and the management of party campaigns.
With this sensitive judicial decision, the Supreme Court closes the door on a prominent electoral tool, shifting the polling day battle from instantaneous digital surveillance to more limited traditional mechanisms.
