Former MK seeks election irregularities probe

Longtime MK A-Sanaa asks court to order state investigation of alleged election irregularities: "Findings will be an earthquake.”

Ballots in Israeli elections. (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Ballots in Israeli elections.
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Former MK Taleb a-Sanaa, of the Democratic Arab Party, filed a petition with the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday afternoon calling for a state commission investigation into alleged election irregularities.
A-Sanaa issued a statement stating that, “I have no doubt that the findings of any commission will be at the level of an earthquake.”
He was fifth on the United Arab List-Ta’al which won four seats in the Knesset, putting him out for the first time in years.
The petition will attack the election results on fundamental issues, such as allegations that the number of votes in certain areas was larger than the number of voters.
He said the petition will also allege that certain vote combination deals resolving how to allocate vote totals which are not sufficient to add another seat to a party were not properly approved by the Central Elections Commission.
A-Sanaa also said that there were group votes using envelopes with multiple votes inside delivered together.
Next, a-Sanaa said that some of the vote administrators at local polling stations were threatened by rule violators.
He added that he was not accusing the Commission of any wrongdoing, but that ultimately a failure had occurred in maintaining the purity and fairness of the elections.
A-Sanaa said that he was confident that the courts would correct the injustices and that “justice would come to light.”