IDF Prepares for Election Day Amid War Operations

The IDF is preparing to hold elections for the 26th Knesset under what it calls "a challenging operational reality." The army's main task this time is to ensure that all serving personnel, regular and reserve, can exercise their right to vote. For the first time, soldiers will cast ballots while crossing international borders during active operations.

Early voting in the IDF will begin on the evening of October 20 and continue for seven days, culminating on general election day, October 27. Hundreds of fixed and mobile polling stations will operate wherever soldiers are stationed, whether in regular service or active reserve duty.

Mobile polling stations will move between units according to a pre-set schedule, accompanied by an armed officer or NCO responsible for security. Between units, the secondary cover of the ballot box remains locked.

Soldiers will have the option to vote at a military polling station or at a civilian one. In both cases, voting will be conducted using double envelopes, a system designed to verify that the voter is eligible and votes only once.

The IDF announced that Colonel Vered Ben Yehuda has been appointed as the IDF's chief elections officer, in addition to her role as head of the IDF Employment Center. The elections apparatus is tasked with enabling the vote and maintaining the integrity of the process, not with engaging in political content or the positions of voters. The army emphasized that elections in the IDF are conducted while preserving the IDF's non-partisan character and keeping the army out of political discourse.

Managing the IDF's election apparatus during this period will involve hundreds of election officers and approximately 3,000 soldiers trained to serve as polling committee members. Each polling station is run by a committee that has undergone training and is familiar with the procedures and rules required for conducting the vote. A polling committee includes four committee members serving in the IDF.