High Court rules state comptroller election invalid, Knesset must hold new vote

The High Court of Justice rules unanimously that the vote in the Knesset in which Michael Rabello was elected state comptroller is invalid because of violations of the secrecy of the ballot.

The court rules that the Knesset must hold a new election for the state comptroller position.

The court notes that during the second round of voting, several MKs either made their voting slip with Rabello’s name visible outside the voting booth, or photographed or videoed themselves voting for him inside the booth.

Deputy President Noam Sohlberg writes in the ruling for the court that Basic Law: State Comptroller and the Law for the State Comptroller require that the vote be held by secret ballot, and that the stipulation was designed to allow Knesset members to vote their conscience free from external pressure, such as party political pressure.

Sohlberg writes that there was a real possibility that the violation of the secret ballot requirement influenced the outcome of the election, and that it must therefore be held again.