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Israel began counting double-envelope ballots early Thursday, with more than 500,000 votes potentially affecting the final distribution of parliamentary seats, Anadolu Agency reported.
The count was expected to be completed by Thursday evening, according to Israel’s public broadcaster.
Double-envelope ballots are used by voters who cast their votes away from their registered polling stations, including soldiers, diplomats, police officers and displaced residents. Officials check identification details on the outer envelope to prevent duplicate voting, then separate it from the anonymous ballot before counting.
The remaining votes could change individual parties’ seat totals and the balance between the rival blocs.
After all regular ballots were counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to win 53 seats, compared with 48 for the opposition bloc led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot and 19 for predominantly Arab parties, according to Channel 12.
Neither main bloc was projected to reach the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
The Joint List was projected to secure 12 seats and the United Arab List (Ra’am) seven, giving Arab parties a record combined representation of 19 seats.
Turnout reached 77.7%, the highest since 1999, according to the Central Elections Committee.
