Election Day: Feb. 10, 2009

The Electoral Process

Timetable 

Dec 24, 2008 - Parties submit lists of candidates to the Central Elections Committee

Jan 1, 2009 -   Deadline for submitting petitions to disqualify a party list

Jan 16, 2009 - Approval of party lists by Central Elections Committee

Jan 27, 2009 - Election advertising begins on radio and television

Jan 29, 2009 - Voting in Israeli diplomatic missions abroad

Feb 10, 2009 - Election day

Feb 18, 2009 - Publication of official election results

Mar 2, 2009 -  newly elected 18th Knesset convenes

National elections to the Knesset are held once every four years, unless circumstances call for early elections. On October 26, newly elected Kadima leader Tzipi Livni informed President Shimon Peres that she did not succeed in forming a coalition government. Peres decided to call for general elections to the Knesset, which have been set for February 10, 2009.
 
The entire country constitutes a single electoral district. Every citizen of the State of Israel over the age of 18 years has the right to participate in elections, every citizen has one vote, and all votes carry equal weight.

Election Day is a national public holiday, though several services, including public transportation, will be working regularly. Most polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Every citizen who comes to vote must identify himself/herself by an identity card which displays a picture of its owner, a valid Israeli passport with a picture of its owner or a valid Israeli driver's license with a picture of its owner.

Israeli law does not provide for absentee ballots, and voting takes place only on Israeli soil. The sole exceptions are Israeli citizens serving on Israeli ships and in Israeli embassies and consulates abroad.

The voting is done by secret ballot. Each voter receives an insulated opaque envelope that contains the slip selected by the voter in a booth in which the voter can select the slip and put it into the envelope in private. The voter chooses only one slip representing the party list for whom he/she wants to vote. If there are two slips for the same list of candidates, then one will be counted. If there are more than two slips or if there are two different slips, the vote is considered invalid. 

The voter exits the booth with the sealed envelope in hand and places it into the ballot box in front of the polling station committee members.\
 
Knesset seats are assigned in proportion to each party's percentage of the total national vote. A party's surplus votes, which are insufficient for an additional seat, are redistributed among the various parties according to their proportional size resulting from the elections, or as agreed between parties prior to the election.

The number and order of members entering the new Knesset for each party corresponds to its list of candidates as presented for election. Should an MK resign or pass away in the course of the Knesset term, the next person on that party's list automatically replaces him/her.

No faction may receive a financial contribution, directly or indirectly, from any person or his dependents in excess of the sum established by law and linked to the Consumer Price Index. A faction or list of candidates may not receive a financial contribution from someone who is not eligible to vote in the elections.

The Central Elections Committee, headed by a justice of the Supreme Court and including representatives of the parties holding seats in the Knesset, is responsible for conducting and supervising the elections. Regional election committees oversee the functioning of local polling committees, which include representatives of at least three parties in the outgoing Knesset. Anyone aged 16 or older is eligible to serve on a polling committee.

The Central Elections Committee may prevent a candidates' list from participating in elections if its objectives or actions, expressly or by implication, include negation of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people; negation of the democratic character of the State; incitement to racism.