Israel election day: 7.3M voters, 12K polling stations

Tomorrow, Tuesday, 27 October 2026, 7,331,981 eligible voters will be able to cast their ballots in the elections for the 26th Knesset. Behind the day stands a nationwide operation of some 100,000 workers, alongside logistics, training, oversight and monitoring systems. The Central Elections Committee has printed 450 million ballot slips for the vote.

Across the country, 12,018 polling stations will operate, of which 6,209 are accessible stations, including 3,621 specially adapted accessible stations. The arrangements are designed to enable a proper, accessible, secret and supervised election process. The oversight system for election integrity includes some 15,000 cameras, alongside checks and controls throughout the voting, counting and results-collection stages.

The Committee's command and control centre at the Knesset will coordinate the nationwide picture, handle incidents, and update the public and the media. Operations will continue through the night, with vote counting and collection of verified results.

Voting hours and turnout figures

Most polling stations will open at 07:00 and close at 22:00. In localities with up to 350 eligible voters, and in polling stations at hospitals, prisons and old-age homes, voting hours are 08:00–20:00, in accordance with the arrangements that apply to them.

Nationwide turnout percentages will be released starting at 11:00, every two hours, at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00 and 23:00. Turnout by polling station will be released four times during the day, at 10:00, 13:00, 17:00 and 21:00. Turnout figures will be updated on the Committee's website and on the Central Elections Committee map.

To enable every citizen to reach a polling station, the Committee has arranged 660 intercity public transport routes free of charge on election day, including all Israel Railways lines.

Tens of thousands of patients hospitalised in general, psychiatric, nursing and rehabilitation hospitals will be able to exercise their democratic right to vote. Polling stations will be set up in every institution with more than 50 licensed beds, in accordance with the law. To vote, patients must bring identification and a hospitalisation certificate, which will be provided by the responsible party on behalf of the hospital or nursing institution. Medical staff who cannot reach the polling station where they are registered may also vote at the polling station set up in the hospital where they work, in accordance with the law.

When voting closes at each polling station, a manual count of the ballot slips will begin by the polling-station committee, and the results will be recorded in a protocol and transferred for collection and verification. The outer envelopes will be checked to prevent double voting, and only after the check will voters' details be separated from the inner voting envelopes, while maintaining voting secrecy. Verified results will be published as the count progresses and data is collected. During the process, these are partial results that may change.

A live feed of all command-centre events will be broadcast and available for free use, starting tomorrow at 06:30 until Thursday evening, 29 October. A link to the YouTube feed will be sent to newsrooms tomorrow morning. The turnout map opened last night.

Entry to the Knesset will be possible from 05:30, for those whose details have been submitted and registered in advance only. The media compound is at full capacity, and registration is no longer possible. Entry is on foot through the registration tent at the Plombo Gate: collection of a tag, followed by security check. Access to the media compound will be by escort of Elections Committee staff only. The tag must be worn at all times. The compound is located in the corridor on floor 0, in the committees plaza. Work and broadcasting from the compound will be possible throughout election day and night, during the collection of verified results.