Election Committee approves 159 polling stations in senior facilities, asks High Court to end case

The Central Elections Committee approved polling stations in 159 retirement homes and assisted-living facilities on Tuesday, August 18, and asked the High Court of Justice to dismiss three petitions over voting access for elderly residents, arguing that its new arrangement has resolved the dispute.

The decision means the 159 polling locations no longer need approval from the Elections Committee. What remains is whether the solution is enough to end the High Court proceedings, or whether any part of the petitioners’ challenge still requires a ruling.

That is precisely the point the court had been waiting to reach. After receiving an initial update from the Elections Committee on Monday, August 17, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and Justices Ofer Grosskopf and Gila Canfy-Steinitz ordered the committee to return once the results of an internal vote on the proposed polling map were known.

The following day, the committee told the court that its plenum had approved the polling districts and locations proposed by its professional staff, including the 159 stations in senior facilities. It argued that the petitions had therefore become moot and should be struck from the docket.

The approval clears the administrative question the judges were waiting on, but does not itself dispose of the case. Only the High Court can decide whether the petitions no longer serve a practical purpose.

The three petitions arose after the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee declined to continue a special voting arrangement used in the previous two elections, under which dedicated polling stations operated in retirement and assisted-living facilities.

At an August 11 hearing, the High Court sharply criticized the decision but also questioned whether judges could restore, through a ruling, an arrangement lawmakers had chosen not to enact.

Knesset decision is step backward, Justice Amit says

Amit called the Knesset’s decision a step backward in voting access and said the previous system had worked well. Grosskopf and Canfy-Steinitz, however, pressed the petitioners on whether their proposed remedy would require the court to take the place of the Knesset.

Rather than decide that broader question immediately, the court focused on whether the Central Elections Committee could find a workable solution using powers it already has under existing election law.

The committee’s professional staff subsequently contacted 290 retirement homes and assisted-living facilities and recommended placing 159 ordinary polling stations in institutions that agreed to host them and met the committee’s requirements.

Those requirements include providing a suitable polling location at no charge and allowing voters from outside the institution to enter. Unlike the dedicated stations used in the previous two elections, the new stations serve all voters assigned to that electoral district.

That means the new arrangement does not completely recreate the previous system. During the elections for the 24th and 25th Knessets, temporary COVID-era provisions allowed special stations to operate inside senior facilities for residents and staff, using external envelopes. The Elections Committee later recommended making a dedicated arrangement permanent, but the Knesset committee declined to include it in the legislation governing the October election.

Under the now-approved solution, a resident will not automatically be entitled to vote at a station simply because it is located inside the facility where they live. The station remains tied to its assigned polling district, although stations that meet accessibility requirements can also serve voters with limited mobility.

As of the committee’s Monday update, 127 of the 159 proposed locations had been checked and found to meet accessibility requirements. Reviews of the remaining locations had not yet been completed.

Election committee working against Tuesday deadline for election map

The committee was also working against a statutory deadline. Election law requires the Central Elections Committee to determine polling districts and locations no later than 70 days before election day, making Tuesday the deadline for formally setting the map for the October 27 election.

The proposal was circulated to committee members in writing on Sunday, August 16. According to the committee’s final summary, 18 members submitted positions before the deadline: 15 supported the committee staff’s proposed map, while three supported it except for the senior facilities, where they preferred the Interior Ministry’s original proposal.

The legal fight has therefore narrowed considerably; the Elections Committee’s new plan addresses part of the practical problem raised by the petitions without requiring new legislation. The question now is whether that is enough.

The committee has asked the High Court to conclude that the petitions no longer present a dispute requiring a judgment. The court may accept that position and dismiss them, or determine that one or more of the issues raised by the petitioners still requires further consideration.