From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Voter turnout in second round of municipal elections at 12.6% as of 4 p.m.
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam 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"
Voter turnout in the second round of Israel’s nationwide municipal elections remains low, with only 12.6 percent of eligible voters casting ballots as of 4 p.m.
According to the Interior Ministry, the highest voting rates recorded on Sunday are in the northern villages of Deir al-Asad and Peki’in while the lowest were in Kafr Kanna and Mashhad, with only 1.5% voter turnout each.
In Beit Shemesh 21.5% of eligible voters have so far gone to the polls, while 17.4% voted in the southern El-Kassum Regional Council, 10.7% in Ramle and 8.94% in Haifa.
Elections are being held today in locations where none of the candidates running for mayor managed to secure the 40 percent of ballots necessary to win in the first round of municipal elections two weeks ago. The day is not a legal holiday, unlike the first round at the end of last month, and voting will be restricted to the hours of 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry released the final audited numbers for voter participation in the first round, held on February 27. Around 3.8 million out of 7.08 million eligible voters, or 53.7 percent, cast ballots — down from 56.9% in 2018 but up from 51% in 2013.
The Times of Israel Community.