Israel Prepares for 26th Knesset Elections: Where Special Ballots Open
As millions of Israelis vote in the 26th Knesset elections, special polling stations open in hospitals, prisons, and ships. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of citizens living abroad remain unable to vote remotely.
Millions of Israeli citizens are heading to the polls for the 26th Knesset elections, with voting taking place not only at neighborhood schools but also in unconventional locations such as hospitals, prisons, and even aboard ships at sea.
Special Polling Stations across Institutions
According to the Ministry of Health, tens of thousands of patients hospitalized in general, psychiatric, nursing, and rehabilitation facilities will be able to cast their ballots through special polling stations set up in institutions with at least 50 beds. Voters must present identification and hospitalization documents. While visitors and day patients are excluded, some facilities like Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh) have arranged mobile ballot boxes for non-ambulatory patients.
In Israel's correctional system, 55 polling stations have been established across prisons and detention centers. Incarcerated individuals retain their voting rights, allowing prisoners, detainees, and on-duty law enforcement personnel to vote via secret double envelopes.
Offshore and Remote Voting Exceptions
Special accommodations are also provided for women in shelters for domestic violence victims and citizens evacuated due to security conditions, allowing them to vote in designated accessible locations without returning to their registered residences.
Furthermore, Israeli sailors and passengers aboard approved national vessels at sea can vote under specific conditions, including having at least 14 Israeli citizens over 18 on board. To ensure votes arrive and are counted on time, maritime voting takes place 12 days prior to election day.
The Exclusions for Citizens Abroad
Despite these extensive domestic exceptions, Israelis traveling, studying, or living abroad privately cannot vote from afar, as absentee voting at embassies is strictly limited to diplomats, state emissaries, and eligible family members. According to Central Bureau of Statistics data cited by the Israel Democracy Institute, approximately 810,000 eligible Israeli voters reside abroad without remote voting access.
To prevent voter fraud, all special ballots utilize a double-envelope system where voter details are verified against central registries before the inner, anonymous envelope is counted. During the previous 2022 elections, the Central Election Committee processed roughly 463,000 double envelopes.
