The head of Israel's Central Elections Committee on Tuesday temporarily barred United Torah Judaism, an ultra-Orthodox party, from reporting how many people had voted at polling stations, after a watchdog group accused it of violating a recent Supreme Court ruling.
The injunction, issued by committee chairman Judge Noam Sohlberg, prohibits the party and its polling-station representatives from reporting voter numbers at any station, whether in real time or at intervals.
The order came in response to a petition filed Tuesday by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel. Solberg gave the party until 2:15 p.m. to respond and ordered the group to deliver the petition and the ruling to the party immediately.
The petition followed the publication by journalist Yoeli Brim of documents and forms obtained by the watchdog. According to material attached to the petition, polling-committee members representing United Torah Judaism were given a "Turnout Tracking Form" with instructions to mark each voter who cast a ballot, record the time and report the tally to the system of Degel HaTorah, one of the party's two factions.
The representatives were told not to use digital devices inside the polling station, but to step outside and pass on the figures by phone.
The watchdog argued that the instructions violate a Supreme Court ruling barring polling-committee members and party observers from sending their parties real-time information on how many people have voted. A follow-up ruling clarified that the ban covers any method of transmitting that information. The group said that counting by hand and reporting by phone from outside the polling room do not get around the prohibition, and that the practice gives the party an unfair advantage over those that comply.
"Fair elections require equal rules for all parties," attorneys Jacqueline Bracha and Ido Ornstein of the Movement for Quality Government said in a statement. "The temporary injunction issued following our petition obligates United Torah Judaism and its representatives to stop the reports." They said the group would continue working throughout election day to ensure the rules are enforced.
United Torah Judaism did not immediately respond to the petition.
