Seven million people were called to the polls this Tuesday, February 27, to vote in elections that had to be postponed due to the Hamas attacks on October 7 and due to the impossibility of registering the vote of the mobilized reservists. At 7 pm local time, participation stood at 39%, ten points less than in the same elections in 2018.
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Up to seven million people were called to the polls this Tuesday, February 27, to vote in local and regional elections delayed up to two times due to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and to ensure the vote of mobilized reservists. The polls, therefore, have taken to the streets to elect a total of 239 mayors and councilors from 197 municipalities and representatives of 45 regional councilsaccording to data from the Electoral Council.
There are 24,910 candidates running for election on 4,500 party lists, including 801 mayoral candidates, of whom only 83 are women.
No changes are expected in Israel's large cities, except in Tel Aviv, where the current mayor, Ron Huldai, is competing for the position with the candidate Orna Barbivai, former Minister of Economy and the centrist Yesh Atid party.
In Jerusalem, the current mayor, Moshe Lion, of the right-wing Likud, is expected to renew another five-year term. But, there are disputes about the composition of the municipal council, since the 300,000 Palestinian residents in the eastern half of the citywho can only vote in local elections, although they usually boycott them, are underrepresented.
On this occasion there is a new Arab-Jewish formation called 'All Their Residents', founded two years ago by the Palestinian Sondos Alhoot, 33 years old, which could become the first Palestinian woman to serve on the Jerusalem city council and that defends a city with equal rights for all.
At 7 pm local time, participation stood at 39%ten points less than in the same elections in 2018 at the same time.
Between sirens and rockets
These elections come at an atypical time. Due to the war in Gaza, elections that were to be held on October 31 had to be delayed. And not everyone will be able to do it: In a total of 11 locations will not be able to vote until November 19, since some 180,000 inhabitants, according to local media, had to be evacuated because they were areas very close to the border with Gaza or Lebanon. On the other hand, nearly 400,000 people who temporarily reside in other municipalities will be able to cast their vote wherever they are.
Some 19,000 police officers patrol polling stationsroads and public areas throughout election day, reported the Police, which has reinforced security measures due to the context of war.
As for serving soldiers, they were able to vote last week through portable voting centers inside the Gaza Strip “under operational and security cover” so that combatants could exercise their right to vote.
There was also a display of 925 voting centers, 150 of them completely mobile to reach reservists in remote areas, such as border areas or deployed in the West Bank.
While turnout is substantially lower than on previous occasions, many candidates have avoided showing ties to the ruling Likud party. As for the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, he sees these elections as a test of what the people think about his management.
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