Elkin: Fighting for a fair election
Elkin: Fighting for a fair election

As investigations into the Kadima primary elections continue, polling irregularities have been found in 71 of 115 polling stations. While a Kadima internal court judge has upheld the election results, the possibility of a recount, or even a new primary, has been left open. Meanwhile, a Knesset Member appealing the results of the primary said that had Kadima candidate and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz been aware of the extent of the polling irregularities, he would have appealed the results on the night of the vote.

A group of Mofaz supporters, led by Kadima MK Ze’ev Elkin, has been investigating a number of voting irregularities that they say casts serious doubt on the results. Among their findings is the troubling fact that the total number of votes that were cast is greater than the number of voters who are registered as having arrived to the polls.



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“The number of ballots with a question mark on them is around 300,” said Elkin. He confirmed that irregularities have been uncovered in a majority of the 115 polling stations, where either there were ballots cast that were not counted, or where the number of ballots counted exceeded the number of people who voted.

 

“Had [Mofaz] known of the magnitude of the discrepancies, he would have certainly appealed,” Elkin added.

 

On the night of the elections, lawyers for Mofaz requested the Central Election Committee to postpone announcement of the results pending a recount, given the tiny margin of victory and the disqualification of an entire voting station in the town of Rahat. In that station, 430 ballots were discarded, bringing Livni’s 431-vote victory down to a possible margin of just one vote.

 

Central Election Committee judge Dan Arbel ruled against the appeal, arguing that since Livni’s margin of victory was one vote larger than the number of votes disqualified in Rahat, she would have won the election by one vote even if all the Rahat votes were for Mofaz. Arbel said that had the number of disputed votes been even one vote higher, he would have suspended the election results.

 

With the new information found on polling irregularities, the total number of disputed votes is over 700, and Mofaz’s supporters are holding Arbel to his word.

“There were many examples of misconduct in the elections,” explains Elkin in the video above “there are hundreds of votes missing. More than ten polling stations had more ballots than voters, and so 60-70% of the polling stations were imprecise. We know today that there are around 700-800 votes that are questionable…with a margin of victory of only 431 votes. We also have claims of actual vote rigging.”

“It could very much be that the state comptroller will have to intervene and investigate” suggested Tzion Amir, an attorney for Elkin. “Maybe even the police might investigate these unexplained occurrences.”

“How could [Arbel] make a judgment based on a one-vote margin?” asked Elkin regarding Arbel’s denial of an immediate recount. The legislator also pointed to a polling station in the Arab sector where 13 votes were recorded for Mofaz, whereas about 20 people who were at the polling station have already signed a statement from investigators testifying that they voted for him.

 

Elkin added that the one hour extension in polling granted to Livni’s team was inappropriate, noting that both Mofaz’s lawyer and Meir Sheetrit protested the move. “It has no precedent in Israeli practice anywhere in the nation,” he said.

 

Elkin’s team argued Wednesday for an injunction to temporarily overturn the results of the primary before Kadima internal court Judge Yishai Levit, and was turned down by the judge. The team then requested an immediate recount, but Levit turned them down once again, citing the absence of the other two judges on the three-judge panel, and granted the claimants another hearing on October 5 to consider both requests.

 

Meanwhile, the Kadima MK explained that the only reason why Mofaz did not challenge the results on election night was due to lack of hard evidence, which he now says his team has. “My petition is personal,” said Elkin. “I advised Mofaz not to give in rather petition the court but he for his reasons decided not to. I feel obligated to my friends in Kadima to do this.”

 

Ultimately there is a lot more at stake than who won the Kadima primary, according to Elkin. “We voted between two agendas,” he explained. “I want to know if Kadima supports the division of Jerusalem or opposes it. I want to know if Kadima supports a retreat from the Golan Heights or opposes it.”