Polls Close in Israel: 45% of Eligible Voters Cast Ballots

By Hamodia Staff

The 11,296 polling stations in Israel closed at 10:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. EST) with estimates of just 49% of eligible voters, or approximately 3.5 million people, casting their ballots in the Municipal Elections. Voters who arrived before closing time and were waiting for their turn were able to cast their votes.

In the major cities, Elad leads the country with 80.9% of of eligible voters casting their ballots, with Beit Shemesh and Bnei Brak coming in with 63% and 66.2% respectively. In other cities, Ashdod had 45.1%, Tel Aviv-Yafo had 40%, Haifa had 38.7% and Yerushalayim just 30.8%.

The approximately 1,400 special ballot boxes that were placed in combat zones and hospitals, as well as the ballots of officials who are on duty, will be transported to the Logistics Center of the National Supervision of Elections for sorting and delivery to where those voters live, and they will be counted by the local authorities.

The Interior Ministry cautions that final results may not be known until the end of the week, especially in close races. Hamodia will update them as information becomes available.

Exit polls by Shlomo Filber estimate that Moshe Leon, the incumbent mayor of Yerushalayim, will sail to an easy victory with 70% of the vote.

Hanoch Seibert was once again elected as mayor of Bnei Brak.

In Elad, which has been a competitive contest, Yehudah Butbul has 51% with Yisrael Porush getting 49%.

The mayoral race in Beit Shemesh is extremely tight, with early results showing Aliza Bloch with 38%, Moshe Abutbul with 33%, and Shmuel Greenberg with 29%.

Miriam Fierberg, the incumbent mayor of Netanya, is expected to receive 51% of the vote.

Voting in Haifa is expected to go to a second round, with no candidate receiving a mandate. Yona Yahav and Dovid Etzyoni will face each other in a second round.

In Tel Aviv, early estimates show Ron Huldai with 46%, and Orna Barbivai has 35%, and Yuval Zellner getting 19%.

In Ashdod, Yechiel Lasry is ahead with 44% of the vote. Tomer Glam has a comfortable lead in Ashkelon with 55%. Benny Biton has an overwhelming majority of the votes in Dimona. Eli Lankri seems to be on his way to victory in Eilat with 49%. Aviram Dehari is expected to win in Kiryat Gat. Yair Maayan is expected to defeat Nissan Ben Hamu in Arad. Yossie Neve has 45% of the votes in Teveria, and seems to have been elected its next mayor over Ron Kobi. In Petach Tikvah, Romi Greenberg is way ahead with 87%. Ran Kunik will win Givatayim with 85%. Liat Shochat is leading in Or Yehudah with 69%. Tzvika Brot has 67% in Bat Yam. Carmel Shama is leading in Ramat Gan by a mere 25 votes after 3000 votes were counted. Shai Kenan has defeated Holon incumbent Mayor Motti Sasson, who has served 30 years and came in third place with only 18%. Yair Rebibo seems to be winning in Lod after receiving 55 % of the votes.