Long-delayed municipal elections underway in southern Israel

With the long-delayed municipal elections in southern Israel underway, the Interior Ministry announces that 14.59 percent of all eligible voters have voted as of 11:30 a.m.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. in the Eshkol Regional Council, Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, Sdot Negev Regional Council, and Sderot, nine months after they were postponed due to the ongoing war in Gaza.

According to the Interior Ministry, 65,335 voters are eligible to take part in the elections at 15 polling stations within the southern districts and at an additional seven polling stations set up across the rest of the country for residents of the south displaced by the fighting.

While ballots will begin to be counted as soon as the polls close at 10 p.m. this evening, verified results will likely only be released at the end of the week due to the large number of so-called double envelope ballots expected to be cast by displaced residents and IDF troops, the ministry says.

Israel’s first nationwide local elections since 2018 had initially been scheduled for October 31, 2023, but were pushed off to January 31, in the wake of Hamas’s devastating attack on southern Israel on October 7. They were delayed a second time, due to the number of reservists still fighting, and were finally held across most of the country in February.

הבחירות בשדרות: שר הרווחה יעקב מרגי בסיור קלפיות משותף עם ראש העיר אלון דוידי, יחד עם צוות המטה ופעילי תנועת ש"ס. מוקדם יותר קיים השר מרגי ישיבת עבודה במטה יום הבחירות ובמטה הטלפניות pic.twitter.com/njZL44IloO

— משה ויסברג (@moshe_nayes) November 19, 2024