High Court of Justice Bars Political Parties From Receiving Data on Whether Specific Voters Have Cast Ballots

How the Parties Tracked Voter Turnout

The practice allowed party representatives to obtain information from polling stations about which potential supporters had not yet voted. The party could then contact those citizens and encourage them to come and vote. The Central Elections Committee approved the use of the "Elector" application by a vote of 19 to 11, but opponents of the decision again petitioned the High Court of Justice.

What the Court Ruled

Justice Yael Wilner wrote the principal opinion; Justices Alex Stein and Khaled Kabub concurred. The High Court of Justice ruled that political parties may not receive information about citizens who have not voted, whether through "Elector" or by any other means. In doing so, the Court overturned the Central Elections Committee's decision.

The Legal Grounds for the Prohibition

The Court noted that the law does not expressly authorize political parties to collect and transfer such information, even though the principle of legality governing the actions of public authorities requires clear authorization. Transferring the information also infringes the voter's right to privacy and violates the prohibition established in Section 2(9) of the Protection of Privacy Law. For the same reason, the Central Elections Committee is not authorized to permit party representatives at polling stations to engage in such a practice without a clear and express legislative basis.

Reactions to the Decision

Likud, which had previously defended the use of the application, criticized the judgment and claimed that it was politically directed against the right-wing camp. Similar criticism was voiced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and the Religious Zionism Party. These statements represent the positions of political actors and are not part of the Court's legal reasoning.

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