Voting is going less than smoothly in hundreds of communities across the country as Israelis go to the polls to select their next government for the third time in nine years.
Ballots for the Bayit Yehudi party (Jewish Home / New National Religious Party) were missing at one polling station in Bnei Brak. Party officials complained to the Central Election Committee on Tuesday after voters pointed out there were no ballots for the party at Polling Place #128 in the Beit Yaakov Seminary on Hirsch Street.
Bayit Yehudi sources said they believe the ballots were maliciously removed.
When the polls opened at 7:00 a.m., problems were found in 450 of the more than 9,000 polling stations around the State, according to Nana/News 10.
Knesset spokesman Giora Fordis said that a number of precincts failed to open because members of the staff had not arrived. Stormy weather also played a part in affecting polling sites, especially in the northern regions. It was not known how long the situation would last, or how it would affect the outcome of voting in the respective areas.
There are 5,278,985 citizens throughout the State who are eligible to make the decision as to who will enter the 18th Knesset and lead the country for the next several years. However, not everyone who went to vote first thing in the morning found their polling station open.
The region with the most problems reported was the Jezreel Valley, where 250 polling stations did not open. Next on the list was the Sharon region, north of Tel Aviv, where 138 precincts remained closed. In Tzefat (Safed), 59 voting stations also did not open, and further south, three polling places remained closed in Judea.
In the Arab city of Umm el-Fahm, polling station chairman Baruch Marzel was not allowed to take up his position, creating a complex situation in which it was unclear whether the polls would open and if so, who would monitor them. Police would not allow Marzel to enter the city due to concrete intelligence information about threats to the Land of Israel activist's life. MK Aryeh Eldad was sent to take Marzel's place, but had to be removed after disturbances broke out.
It is estimated that the general elections will cost taxpayers approximately NIS 2 billion. Employers will be shelling out approximately NIS 1.3 billion, due to the costs of holiday pay and overtime.
Revenues from sales, trade and services companies, however, are expected to total at least NIS 1.2 billion, according to the Manufacturers Association of Israel.
Israel National News announces all night election coverage including a live TV broadcast and an up-to-the-minute election results page.