Voter turnout remains low, just 26% of eligible voters cast ballots by 3 p.m.
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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 remains low, with only 26 percent of eligible voters casting their ballots in municipal elections as of 3 p.m., according to data from the Interior Ministry.
This year’s voter turnout, totaling some 1,842,645 votes cast, continues to lag behind the last local elections in 2018, when 32.6% had voted by the same time.
2018 saw a higher turnout than any vote since 1989, but was also the first time since 1989 that election day was declared a national vacation day.
Some 26% have voted in Ashdod and Bnei Brak while turnout rose to 23% in Tel Aviv, 21% in Haifa and 20% in Beersheba. In in Jerusalem, 16.4% of eligible voters have cast ballots. The city with the highest turnout so far is 56.5% in the northern Arab town of Mi’ilya.
