Last Updated on November 1, 2022
How do I vote in the upcoming Israel elections? A step-by-step guide for first-time and rusty voters.
You should have received a pink slip in the mail, that tells you where your polling station is. If you have not received the pink slip, don’t worry – Israel post isn’t always 100 percent reliable. You can also verify your designated polling station online via the Ministry of Interior online information center.
On voting day (a Shabbaton for many), take the pink slip together with one of these four officially acceptable identity documents to your polling station
- Teudat Zehut
- Valid passport
- A valid driver’s license
- If you are serving in the IDF – your ‘Hoger’ is the acceptable form of identification
Upon arrival at the voting station, you will be directed to the appropriate room by one of the election workers (Hebrew: Sadran) on duty.
Wait your turn, only one person is allowed into the room at a time.
When you enter the room, present your pink slip (if you have it) with your identity document to the Sadranim. A RavKav, Kupat Holim membership card, your office ID or a club card do not count as official forms of identity.
The Sadranim will take your identity document and verify that your name appears on the voter’s roll.
You will then be given a blue envelope. In Israel, there are no ballot papers with boxes to tick or holes to punch through.
Make your way to the polling both.
In the polling booth, in front of you, on the table, you will find a tray of white ballot slips with party identification details on them – the authorized representative letters or party identification. The party identification includes a one, two, three or four letter sequence for each political party participating in the election round. Make sure you familiarize yourself with your chosen party’s authorized representative letters. Each ballot slip also has the full name of the party printed below the authorized representative letters.
Choose the relevant slip for the party you wish to vote for, put the slip the envelope, seal it and place the envelope into the official blue ballot box. Go back to the main table where the Sadranim are sitting and get your Teudat Zehut or other ID document back.
What if there is no ballot slip for the party I want to vote for?
Cannot find your slip? Tell the Sadranim and they will bring more slips. Over 8.5 million ballot slips for each and every party have been printed for the elections.
The blank ballot slip
There are also plain white, blank ballot slips that you can use. If you want to voice your personal protest or abstention, insert one of the blank slips into the blue envelope.
Spoiled votes
Any ballot slip that has been defaced in any way, will not be counted; tears, marks, scribbles etc.
Check that both sides of the ballot slip have not been defaced. This is something often forgotten and any defacement on the underside of the ballot slip (intentional or not) will render your vote invalid.
If there is more than one ballot slip in the envelope, none of them will be counted.
More about Israel’s elections and electoral system
