Long lines, slow identification processes reported at voting booths in Arab communities; high turnout seen in Negev Bedouin areas

Long lines and slow identification processes are reported in some Arab communities, drawing accusations of an intentional attempt to interrupt voting.

At the same time, the Central Elections Committee’s area-by-area data on the voting so far shows high turnout in southern Negev Arab communities.

Yaela Raanan, a member of a team promoting election integrity in the Bedouin community, tells the Haaretz daily that people are waiting several hours to vote and that a process of checking identification is holding up voting in Negev Bedouin towns.

“There is a feeling it is on purpose, because this is happening in many locations,” he says.

In Tel Sheva and Segev Shalom, police officers have been seen entering polling stations, according to Haaretz.

The Adalah Arab legal aid group says it has received reports of long delays present in Arab communities in the Galilee and the south, and that election supervisors are managing voting slowly and asking irrelevant questions.

At a Kafr Qara polling booth, it was reported that only one person had voted by 10 a.m., the group says.