Israel election may run two days if rockets fall on vote day

Israel's national election is two weeks away, but behind the scenes the country is preparing for a vote like no other: the Central Elections Committee is drawing up plans to extend polling hours, and even to hold a second day of voting, if security conditions require it. With the home front under intermittent attack, the committee is mapping every protected space and security measure at every polling station across the country.

According to a report by i24NEWS crime desk chief Lee Ayash, regional election committees have already been instructed to confirm with polling-site managers that sheltered spaces are available, signage is clear, and instructions can be relayed to voters in real time. A statement from the Central Elections Committee said: "The committee has contingency plans for every scenario. At this hour a special situation prevails on the home front, and therefore the committee is obligated to map all protected spaces and security measures in every region."

Israel Police has begun drilling election-day scenarios under wartime conditions. At least one exercise was held earlier this week, led by the head of the operations division and attended by the chairman of the Elections Committee himself. The operational plan includes mapping polling stations, deploying patrol units, protocols for evacuating the public and ballot materials during an alert, and conference calls linking the committee chairman, the army and the police in the event of an escalation. Police Commissioner Danny Levy is expected to approve the plans in the coming days.

Under Israeli law, the presidium of the Elections Committee is authorised to order the delayed opening of a polling station, a halt to voting, its resumption, and the addition of time, up to 24 hours after the scheduled closing time. In more extreme cases, the possibility of an additional day of voting is also being considered, as part of the contingency plans.

Election preparations (Photo: Roi Yadovski)

The preparations do not come out of nowhere. A special law for the 26th Knesset elections has already granted the committee chairman expanded powers during a "special situation on the home front" or an hour of attack, including the authority to set protection protocols at polling sites in consultation with the IDF chief of staff.

Alongside the security preparations, the Elections Committee is in the midst of an unprecedented printing operation. As we reported, some 450 million ballot slips are now being printed at the Orda plant in Kiryat Gat for the country's approximately 7.3 million eligible voters, who will cast their votes at 12,018 polling stations nationwide. Each list running for the 26th Knesset will have roughly 11.5 million copies printed.

The IDF is also preparing for an election operation without precedent. Some 850 fixed and mobile ballot boxes will operate across all units and all operational sectors, for the first time under challenging operational conditions. Early voting in the IDF will begin on October 20 and continue for seven days until the general election day on October 27.

The message is clear: Israel will hold elections, even if missiles are fired. But for the ballot boxes to stay open, the protected spaces are ready, the officers are drilled, and the instructions are clear. The only question left open is whether these scenarios will remain on paper, or whether on election day we will discover just how necessary the contingency plans were.