Peace Now to secular voters: Match settler turnout
NGO: Right-wing bloc has advantage because of low voter turnout in major cities, high rate in settlements.
By LAHAV HARKOVBallots are printed ahead of elections 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner)
Peace Now started a get-out-the-vote campaign, comparing voter turnout rates in settlements to those in major cities.The NGO’s campaign, which it began to advertise over the weekend on social networks, claims that right-wing and religious parties are bolstered by low secular voter turnout.“Don’t let others decide for you. Go and vote,” the ads read. According to one ad, 80 percent of Israeli citizens over the Green Line voted in the last election, while the average rate in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Beersheba is 57%.The numbers presented by Peace Now come from 2009, when 64.72% of eligible Israelis voted.Peace Now also launched a website featuring a map of Israel, in which visitors can click on names of towns to see their voter turnout rate, or search for those that don’t appear on the map.Click for full JPost coverage“A careful examination of voter percentages in the last election gives another explanation for the Right-wing bloc’s advantage in the election,” the site reads.“It was created as a result of higher-than-average voter turnout rates in settlements and low percentages in large cities.”The two towns with the top voter turnout rates are settlements Revava, with 94.5%, and Talmon, with 92.8%.In Tel Aviv, Peace Now points out, 58.6% voted, 57.45% in Haifa and 53% in Beersheba, which means that over 250,000 people in those cities did not exercise their right to vote.“Because of the large, concentrated number of people in big cities, a slight change in voter turnout percentages can influence the election and the makeup of the next Knesset,” Peace Now explained.
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