Voting may be deliberately obstructed in polling stations across Arab sector towns, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) warned on Tuesday, urgently appealing to Central Elections Committee (CEC) Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg to dispatch inspectors to polling stations following reports of significant and unexplained delays in the voting process.
According to reports received by ACRI, voters were being processed unusually slowly, with long queues forming at numerous polling stations. The association expressed concern that the delays may not be accidental and could undermine Israeli Arab citizens’ ability to exercise their right to vote in Tuesday’s election.
Reports came from numerous localities, including Rahat, Tel Sheva, Laqiya, Segev Shalom, Abu Tulul, Umm Batin, Iksal, Jaljulya, Kafr Kara, Jisr e-Zarka, Kafr Manda, Ar’ara BaNegev, Tamra, Kafr Kanna, Tira, and Daburiya.
Ra’am said that police, coordinating with Otzma Yehudit representatives, had been preventing voters from entering polling stations
Ra'am says Israeli police coordinating with Otzma Yehudit representatives, prevent voters entering polling stations
Ra’am released footage it said showed police officers coordinating and cooperating with representatives of the Otzma Yehudit party at a polling station in the Bedouin town of Hura in the Negev.
According to the party, the Right had been conducting a systematic campaign against Ra’am, fearing that it could secure eight Knesset seats, a result it said could enable the formation of an alternative coalition of 61 MKs and bring down the Right.
Ra’am added that police had taken control of polling stations in Ar’ara BaNegev following a power outage at the site and were preventing voters from entering.
Israeli officers reportedly delay Arab voting in Segev Shalom
One incident was reported at Segev Shalom High School, where large numbers of police officers and Border Police’s National Guard personnel were reportedly preventing voters from entering the polling station compound, citing the need to manage overcrowding.
However, according to the report, only a small number of voters were inside the compound, while approximately 200 people had been waiting outside the school for an extended period as officers blocked their entry.
ACRI warned that without immediate intervention, the delays could prevent large numbers of Arab voters from exercising their right to vote.
The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel also issued an appeal to the CEC on Tuesday, demanding that Arabic-language ballot slips be urgently delivered to polling stations following reports of a lack of Arab-language ballot slips at various polling stations.
Segev Shalom and Ar’ara BaNegev residents arrested for bribery
On Monday, the eve of Election Day, three Bedouin residents from the Segev Shalom and Ar’ara BaNegev communities were arrested for allegedly attempting to bribe voters to choose Ra’am.
The case was transferred to Lahav 433 on Tuesday.
“Three suspects were arrested in possession of envelopes containing cash, along with ballots for [Ra’am party leader] Mansour Abbas,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, calling for a formal investigation into the incident.
Suspects transferred to Southern District Fraud Unit ahead of court hearing
The suspects were transferred to the Southern District’s Fraud Unit for questioning and are expected to be brought before a court today.
Reportedly, the suspects were detained just hours before the polls opened. Israel Police said it had seized, from their homes, envelopes containing tens of thousands of shekels in cash, notes, and additional items likely connected to the investigation.
In response, Ra’am said in a statement, “We categorically reject attempts by elements within the police to link Ra’am to the compromising of electoral integrity.”