Polls close in war-delayed municipal elections for displaced residents of south

By Sam Sokol 19 November 2024, 10:53 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

The polls are now closed in southern Israel’s long-delayed municipal elections, which were held nine months after most of the rest of the country held their own already war-delayed votes.

According to the Interior Ministry, only 65 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the Eshkol Regional Council, Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, Sdot Negev Regional Council and city of Sderot.

According to the Interior Ministry, 65,335 voters were eligible to take part in the elections. While ballot counting has already begun, verified results will likely only be released at the end of the week. A second round of voting will be held on December 3 in any location where a candidate fails to garner at least 40% of the vote.

“Despite the ongoing war, the elections were held in an orderly manner and without any unusual events,” Interior Minister Moshe Arbel says in a statement.

The highest turnout was in the Sdot Negev Regional Council and Sderot at 79% and 63.5%, respectively, while only 45.5% of eligible voters cast ballots in the Eshkol Regional Council, where Michal Uziyahu was unilaterally declared the next council head due to the fact that she ran unopposed.

“We’re so preoccupied by so many other things that last night on the [community] WhatsApp group, people were saying, ‘Wait, it’s a day off? There’s elections?'” Adele Raemer, a displaced resident of Kibbutz Nirim, tells The Times of Israel.

“I have every confidence that Eshkol is going to rise up from this thing and be bigger and better and stronger. Communities are intent on coming back and rising up from this. What I need is for the government and the army to be just as intent on helping us get that done,” she says — praising Uziyahu as an able advocate for her region.