Voting abroad ends, with lower turnout than last two elections

Voter turnout was 66%, with 3,442 Israeli diplomats and other members of official delegations and their families exercising their democratic right around the world.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Israeli delegates in Hong Kong vote in March 2020 elections (photo credit: FOREIGN MINISTRY)
Israeli delegates in Hong Kong vote in March 2020 elections
(photo credit: FOREIGN MINISTRY)
Voting in Israel’s embassies and consulates abroad came to a close with the final votes being cast in Los Angeles and San Francisco on Thursday morning, Israel time.
Voter turnout was 66%, with 3,442 Israeli diplomats and other members of official delegations and their families exercising their democratic right around the world.
In a possible indication of what will happen when the election takes place in Israel on March 2, fewer Israelis abroad voted this time than in the last two rounds of elections in the past year, when 76% and then 69.5% voted.
If the number of Israelis evacuated from China due to coronavirus are taken into account, then turnout was 67.5%.
The Foreign Ministry reported that organizing the vote in China was challenging and there were difficulties arranging for the ballot boxes to be sent back to Israel because direct flights were stopped and many people are quarantined.
Diplomats had pithy comments on the experience of voting for the third time in a year.
“I hope there will be a little – or a lot – more time until the next round,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat quipped.
Israeli Ambassador to the UK Mark Regev tweeted: "Israel's third general election in a year. We do democracy at least three times better than anywhere else in the Middle East!"

Israel's Consul in New York Dani Dayan told Jewish Insider: “To be sincere, I am less excited than the first time and the second time, and hopeful that there is not going to be a fourth round. But this time I will refrain from betting on it.”

Ambassador to Italy Dror Eydar wrote on Facebook that, "even for the thousandth time it is not to be taken lightly, in my eyes, that we have the merit to live in an era in which we can design the future of an independent state.
"Many generations dreamed of this moment. It is important to remember that beyond all arguments," he wrote.
The votes took place in 96 locations worldwide, beginning in Wellington, New Zealand, on Tuesday night Israel time.
The polling place with the most eligible voters was in New York, where 82 Israelis could vote.
Each voting location had its own local election committee led by the Israeli consul. The Foreign Ministry ran a situation room to oversee the election process.