OMM Newsroom
Polling stations in Israel may remain open beyond their scheduled 10 p.m. closing time if voters are still waiting in line, the Central Elections Committee said Tuesday, according to Anadolu Agency.
Dean Livne, the committee’s acting director general, said stations would continue operating after the deadline to allow everyone who had arrived by 10 p.m. to vote, The Times of Israel reported.
“At many polling stations, there are lines. When you reach a high voter turnout, there will always be lines,” Livne said during an update at the committee’s command center in the Knesset.
“We promise, everyone will vote. If there is a line at 10 p.m., the polling stations will continue to operate until everyone who arrived by 10 p.m. has voted. There is no need to worry,” he added.
Voting began at 7 a.m. across Israel. More than 7.3 million eligible voters are choosing representatives for the 120-seat Knesset.
The committee said turnout had reached 31.5% by noon, more than three percentage points above the figure in the previous elections and the highest recorded at that hour since 1973. About 2.39 million voters had cast ballots by noon.
The elections are Israel’s first general vote since the war on the Gaza Strip began in October 2023.
