Responding to complaints of “irregularities” in Wednesday’s Kadima party primary, workers from the office of State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss will meet with several Kadima members and activists to decide whether to launch an official probe into the election.
Kadima MKs Ze’ev Elkin and Ronit Tirosh are among the supporters of Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz’s bid for the leadership of the ruling party, and they represent a growing faction within Kadima that believes that Tzipi Livni’s victory at the polls was fraudulent.
In the final count from the primary, Tzipi Livni was declared the winner by a margin of 431 votes, or a mere 1.1%. She has since assumed the position of party head despite growing doubts about the election process.
“To this point, we have not found a reason to disqualify any voting station except for Rahat," said Arbel, admitting to the disqualification of that station, which, along with the 430 ballots cast in Rahat, narrows Livni’s victory margin from 431 votes to a single vote. 
On Saturday MK Tirosh said that the primary was plagued by various voting irregularities that were quite possibly criminal. In an interview with Israel Radio, she said that there were MKs from the party present during the vote count.
Tirosh also complained that Election Committee Chairman Dan Arbel was refusing to properly address complaints that she and others filed with the Committee. Mofaz’s supporters had demanded a recount of the ballots on the night of the election, and they were refused by Arbel’s committee. Tirosh suggested that had Mofaz not told outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday that he was “taking a vacation” from politics, she and other Mofaz supporters would have gone to the police with the complaints.
Arbel responded to early complaints by saying , “Everyone is armed with complaints in such a tight race, and every complaint will be addressed." Arbel acknowledged that "there are accusations of wrongdoing in the Ashkelon voting station, in Beit Jean, and we will investigate these claims.
“At this point, we have not found a reason to disqualify any voting station except for Rahat," said Arbel, admitting to the disqualification of that station, which, along with the 430 ballots cast in Rahat, narrows Livni’s victory margin from 431 votes to a single vote.
Yehuda Weinstein, an attorney for Mofaz, believes that such voting irregularities led to a one-vote margin, which he sees as insufficient for Livni to claim victory and assume office as Prime Minister. As such, he has urged Mofaz to appeal the results.
"It is impossible to attain power in Israel by a margin of one vote," Weinstein said.
Tirosh echoed Weinstein’s sentiments, saying, “You can't govern Israel by a one-vote win. It's not right."
“You can't govern Israel by a one-vote win. It's not right."
While Mofaz himself has stayed out of the post-election fray, MK Elkin decided to join Tirosh’s campaign to dispute the unusually close election results. On Sunday he and other activists met with Meir Gilboa, the attorney heading the anti-corruption division in the State Comptroller’s Office, requesting time to collect evidence that they believe can prove that Livni’s declared victory was the result of crimes committed in the election process. In the meantime, they will ask a Tel Aviv District court to postpone the ratification of the results until such proof can be presented to the Comptroller’s Office.
“There are things that must be investigated, that we have in our hands, about biased decisions made on behalf of Livni by the Central Election Committee," said Elkin on Saturday.
“This is no time for victory celebrations,” he said. “The wounds are still raw and many activists feel cheated by the results."
Elkin added to his group’s list of complaints the last-minute extension of voting hours, and alleged that they had in their possession surveillance footage showing “voting irregularities.”
Elkin, who boycotted a Friday Kadima faction meeting in protest over the results, said, "I'm willing to take this to court if necessary.”
“This is no time for victory celebrations,” he said. “The wounds are still raw and many activists feel cheated by the results."