Some 4.7 million voters, about 91% of whom live permanently in Israel, are eligible to vote today for one of 27 parties running for the 16th Knesset. Only about half of the parties are expected to receive the required minimum - 1.5% of the total valid votes - that will enable them to be represented in the Knesset.
As of 6 PM, the voting rate was 54% - down from 60.9% at this time in the 1999 election. Some 90% of soldiers in field units have voted, and the overall voting rate in the military is running 5% higher than four years ago. The highest civilian voting rate has been registered in Jerusalem, where voting patterns are generally more right-wing than most other locations in the country. Voting in the Arab sector is particularly low, standing at only 10% by 2 PM in the Galilee area known as the Triangle. A low general turnout is expected to hurt the larger parties, as well as the Shinui party. At least one survey showed that voters leaning towards Shinui were the least certain of their final choice, and were the least certain whether they would vote at all.
The weather does not appear to be helping the situation. Intermittent rain is falling in the north today, as is light rain along the coastal plane areas, and the precipitation is expected to intensify tonight. Isolated incidents requiring police intervention were registered, but at a correspondingly lower rate than in other years.
Several parties made pre-election "surplus votes" agreements with others. The National Union and Yisrael B'Aliyah, for instance, agreed that if they each received enough for an extra partial-seat in the Knesset, the party with fewer such surplus votes would "contribute" them to the other party, enabling the latter to receive an extra seat.
The list of party-pairs that signed "surplus votes" agreements is:
National Religious Party and Am Echad
Labor-Meimad and Meretz
Shinui and the Greens
National Union and Yisrael B'Aliyah
Shas and United Torah Judaism
Democratic Front and Balad (Arab parties)
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon voted this morning in Beit HaKerem, Jerusalem, after which he expressed his wish that the next elections would take place on time, in late August 2007. Labor Party head Amram Mitzna voted in Haifa, and said that if he doesn't win today, "I'll win next time." Labor's #2, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, basically conceded the election today when he said, "Whatever the results, we will not respond to an invitation by Sharon to join a unity government."
Meretz leader Yossi Sarid cast his ballot in north Tel Aviv, Avigdor Lieberman of the National Union in his home in the Yesha community Nokdim, and NRP head Effie Eitam in Nov in the Golan Heights. In Jerusalem, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef voted in Har Nof, while President Moshe Katzav voted not far from the President's Home.
The police in Carmiel detained four Arabs of the western Galilee this afternoon who were attempting to convince others not to vote. With their lead car "adorned" with a PLO flag, the four traveled in a convoy along the Tzfat-Acco highway, calling out on a loudspeaker to other Arab passengers and passers-by to boycott today's election. They were detained for having ostensibly violated the Election Law.
Cost of the elections: 500 million shekels ($104 million) in direct costs charged to the government, and another million shekels in indirect losses due to the vacation day.
As of 6 PM, the voting rate was 54% - down from 60.9% at this time in the 1999 election. Some 90% of soldiers in field units have voted, and the overall voting rate in the military is running 5% higher than four years ago. The highest civilian voting rate has been registered in Jerusalem, where voting patterns are generally more right-wing than most other locations in the country. Voting in the Arab sector is particularly low, standing at only 10% by 2 PM in the Galilee area known as the Triangle. A low general turnout is expected to hurt the larger parties, as well as the Shinui party. At least one survey showed that voters leaning towards Shinui were the least certain of their final choice, and were the least certain whether they would vote at all.
The weather does not appear to be helping the situation. Intermittent rain is falling in the north today, as is light rain along the coastal plane areas, and the precipitation is expected to intensify tonight. Isolated incidents requiring police intervention were registered, but at a correspondingly lower rate than in other years.
Several parties made pre-election "surplus votes" agreements with others. The National Union and Yisrael B'Aliyah, for instance, agreed that if they each received enough for an extra partial-seat in the Knesset, the party with fewer such surplus votes would "contribute" them to the other party, enabling the latter to receive an extra seat.
The list of party-pairs that signed "surplus votes" agreements is:
National Religious Party and Am Echad
Labor-Meimad and Meretz
Shinui and the Greens
National Union and Yisrael B'Aliyah
Shas and United Torah Judaism
Democratic Front and Balad (Arab parties)
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon voted this morning in Beit HaKerem, Jerusalem, after which he expressed his wish that the next elections would take place on time, in late August 2007. Labor Party head Amram Mitzna voted in Haifa, and said that if he doesn't win today, "I'll win next time." Labor's #2, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, basically conceded the election today when he said, "Whatever the results, we will not respond to an invitation by Sharon to join a unity government."
Meretz leader Yossi Sarid cast his ballot in north Tel Aviv, Avigdor Lieberman of the National Union in his home in the Yesha community Nokdim, and NRP head Effie Eitam in Nov in the Golan Heights. In Jerusalem, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef voted in Har Nof, while President Moshe Katzav voted not far from the President's Home.
The police in Carmiel detained four Arabs of the western Galilee this afternoon who were attempting to convince others not to vote. With their lead car "adorned" with a PLO flag, the four traveled in a convoy along the Tzfat-Acco highway, calling out on a loudspeaker to other Arab passengers and passers-by to boycott today's election. They were detained for having ostensibly violated the Election Law.
Cost of the elections: 500 million shekels ($104 million) in direct costs charged to the government, and another million shekels in indirect losses due to the vacation day.