Third time's charm? Israelis take to voting booths to avoid fourth elex

Apparently, neither coronavirus nor 'election fatigue' can stop Israelis from participating in the democratic process, as Israelis turned out in droves to vote on Monday morning.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
People vote in Jerusalem on election day, March 2, 2020. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
People vote in Jerusalem on election day, March 2, 2020.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Neither coronavirus nor “election fatigue” can stop Israelis from participating in the democratic process, as citizens turned out in droves to vote on Monday morning.
As of 4 p.m., overall voter turnout was at 47%, a full 2.7% more than the September 19 election, and the largest voter turnout for that hour since the 1999 election.
Voting stations in Ra’anana drew a crowd mid-morning, with residents each bearing a sticker from another party handed to them before entering.
Cries broke out between two particularly opposing families in Hasharon Middle School. One family yelled at the other and a third family prayed against an aggressive takeover of the “pro-Palestine Blue and White Party.”
In Givatayim, long lines left voters talking at the Katzenelson Elementary School. Some people were cynically saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would definitely win and others were more optimistic in their hopes of electing a different prime minister.
Twenty-two-year-old Shir Elmakayes told The Jerusalem Post that an elderly woman let her cut in front of her, allowing her to vote without being late for work.
“Don’t worry, I’m not in a hurry,” the woman told her. “Vote, please. This election is too important.”
While many in Givat Shmuel appeared to have gone out to vote, most people were also making the best of Election Day, rather than expressing voter fatigue.
“I thought there would be fewer people, because some people are annoyed of the lack of government, but there’s actually quite a lot of people out. There were longer lines than last time,” university student Neshama Lopez-Levy told The Jerusalem Post.
After voting, many made full use of the extra vacation day and were spending time with family and friends.
“There were parents with their kids out by the park, and there were smells of barbecues going on,” Lopez-Levy said.
“I felt it was kind of like Shabbat, but during the week. The streets were empty, families were at parks, but everyone was going to vote.”
Voters in Ganei Tikva came out in numbers, too, but many of them seemed cautiously hopeful, according to Revital Pollack, who was working at one of the voting stations.
“My impression is that people are cautiously hopeful that there will be a government, but they are definitely considering the possibility of another election,” she said.
Pollack noted that while no one said they were sure whether there would be another election, at least half the voters joked that they’d be back in a few months.