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Moti Leitner at the launch of the Haredi Public Party in Bet Shemesh, near Jerusalem, in August. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
Moti Leitner at the launch of the Haredi Public Party in Bet Shemesh, near Jerusalem, in August. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi
Civil Election Guard, an organization deploying more than 20,000 observers at polling stations nationwide, reported a series of disruptions and the removal or concealment of ballot slips for the Haredi Public party in ultra-Orthodox communities.
The Haredi Public seeks to offer an alternative to the established ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas. The party is not expected to cross the electoral threshold, according to recent polls.
According to the organization, 23 incidents were recorded at 20 different polling stations in Modi’in Ilit, Bnei Brak and Jerusalem between 7:56 A.M. and 2:07 P.M. Entire stacks of the party’s ballot slips were taken from voting booths or hidden beneath those of other parties, sometimes repeatedly at the same locations.
In Modi’in Ilit, observers reported that an entire stack of ballots disappeared within seconds. In Bnei Brak, a voting booth was found to have no ballot slips for the party while voters were casting their ballots. The organization said seven incidents occurred within just 13 minutes, between 1:54 P.M. and 2:07 P.M., and that these incidents were reported to the relevant authorities.