The Central Elections Committee on Sunday afternoon overturned a ruling by its chairman, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, and authorized the use of dedicated apps, including the “Elector" app, on Election Day, allowing political parties to receive direct reports from polling stations regarding the identities of voters.
The decision came after the High Court of Justice referred the matter back to the Central Elections Committee following a petition filed by the Likud faction.
The panel of judges, consisting of Yael Willner, Alex Stein and Khaled Kabub, proposed a compromise that was accepted by the parties.
Justice Willner said during the hearing: “It seems to us that this is the best solution under the circumstances of this case, preferable to issuing a ruling. The decision should be reached by agreement. We are not taking a position."
Likud MK Amit Halevi, a member of the Central Elections Committee, responded: “If there is such a thing as ‘substantive democracy,’ then it means encouraging citizens to vote and have an influence. Justice Sohlberg’s attempt to prevent the parties from doing so, after the election campaign had already begun, is unreasonable and undermines public confidence in the committee. It is good that we overturned the decision today by a large majority, and that is how it must remain."