More than 6.6 million Israelis will be eligible to vote in the municipal elections which are taking place in Israel on Tuesday.

11,000 polling stations in 251 municipalities throughout the country will open at 7:00 a.m., and voters will be able to exercise their democratic right to vote until 10:00 p.m. In municipalities where the number of persons entitled to vote does not exceed 350, the polling stations will close at 8:00 p.m.

According to data from the Interior Ministry, there are 863 candidates running for positions of heads of a local authority and about 3,400 lists running for the local councils. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri called on Israeli citizens to "take advantage of your right to influence the local government, which is a democratic right of the highest order. Take advantage of the statutory holiday to have fun, but do not forget to vote first."

In the three largest cities in Israel - Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv - there is a close battle between the candidates for mayor. In Jerusalem there will likely be a second round of voting.

In 17 cities and local councils and in 11 regional councils, there is a single candidate running for the position of head of the local authority: Kiryat Bialik, Acre, Modi'in, Givatayim, Kiryat Ye'arim, Rama, Kaukab Abu al-Hija and Kasra-Samia, Rehovot, Kiryat Ata, Ma’aleh Adumim, Nazareth Illit, Even Yehuda, Mevasseret Zion, Ma'ale Efraim, Rechasim, Ghajar, Brenner, Menashe, Sdot Dan, Sdot Negev, Nahal Sorek, Hevel Eilot, Ramat Negev, Merhavim, Yoav, Megilot and Hof Hasharon.

Residents who live in cities and local councils will vote using two different ballots - a yellow ballot for the head of the local authority, and a white ballot for a list. In the regional councils, the residents will be required to vote with a yellow ballot for the head of the authority, a white ballot for a list and a blue ballot for the local committee.

An elected head of a local authority shall begin to serve 21 days after the day of his election. If none of the candidates in a particular authority has passed the 40 percent required threshold, there will be a second round of voting on November 13, 2018.

The second round will not be a statutory holiday, and the polling stations will be open from 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Following a change in the law from 2014, the day of elections for local authorities is being considered a statutory holiday for the first time, as is the case on the day of the Knesset elections. The right to vote in the local elections is given to every Israeli citizen or permanent resident who on the day of the elections is 17 years old. For more than 270,000 people, this will be the first opportunity to participate in the elections.

The Ministry of Interior is opening a situation room in Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan, which will be active from 7:00 a.m. until the election results are tallied. The voter turnout will be posted on the website of the Interior Ministry, and the election results will be posted there as well.