High Court begins hearing on election day voter tracking by political parties

The High Court of Justice begins a hearing over petitions against the Central Election Committee’s (CEC) decision to allow parties to use voter data to track who has and has not voted on election day.

The CEC voted on Sunday 19-11 to allow the practice, but the decision has been petitioned by activist Shahar Ben Meir on the grounds that it violates voters’ right to privacy.

Since 2019, political parties have been using voter data provided to them by party-appointed polling station workers to track who has and hasn’t voted, which enables them to call and message their likely supporters who have not yet voted to go out and vote.

After Ben Meir requested that Central Election Committee chairman Noam Sohlberg ban the practice due to privacy concerns, Sohlberg determined that the use of the data did violate privacy laws and forbade parties from doing so last month.

But the Likud party, which makes extensive use of the data on election day, petitioned the High Court, saying Sohlberg did not have the authority to ban it. The court accepted the position position and ordered the Central Elections Committee as a whole to make a decision, while strongly implying that they believe the practice does violate privacy laws.

The CEC, which reflects the composition of the Knesset, rejected Sohlberg’s decision and approved the use of the data on Sunday.

Ben Meir and others have now appealed that decision itself to the High Court.