Village near Israel’s airport decides its election with a coin toss
After soldiers' votes were counted, Tzafria residents had a problem: both factions had garnered the same 197 votes
One small central Israeli village picked the tie-breaking fifth seat on its five-seat municipal council with a coin toss after two competing local factions came in dead even on election day.
Tzafria, a hamlet of some 1,000 residents that borders on Ben Gurion International Airport, saw a neck-and-neck race between two political factions, Tzafria Shelanu (“Our Tzafria”) and Tzafria Lekulam (“Tzafria for All”).
Tuesday’s vote ended with a slim three-vote advantage for Tzafria Shelanu, so everyone had to wait until the soldiers’ ballots could be counted.
The votes came in, granting TS a two-vote advantage. But Tzafria Lekulam appealed for a recount, during which two soldiers’ ballots were disqualified.
The final results were in on Thursday morning: both factions had 197 votes. When the two parties refused a compromise rotation agreement, the local elections commission told the parties to settle the election with a coin toss.
So they did, using a 5-shekel coin. Tzafria Shelanu took the side with the etched image of a column capital, Tzafria Lekulam took the side marked with “5.”
Tzafria Shelanu won the coin toss, and will now enjoy a 3-2 majority on the Tzafria village council for the next five years.