Likud Primary Polls Close Without Extension, 75,177 Members Voted
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Likud closed its primary polling stations at 21:00 on Monday without extending voting hours, ending the ballot that sets the party's slate for the October 27 Knesset election. The party reported 75,177 members cast ballots, a turnout of about 53 percent of roughly 142,000 eligible members. Likud examined electronic voting for the race but kept paper ballots after cyber specialists warned that foreign interference could corrupt the results. Counting is therefore manual and centralized at the party's operations room at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv. About 40 ministers and Knesset members competed for roughly 15 realistic places after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reserved slots.
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Difference in reporting
Sources factually disagree on the exact turnout and on when results appear: Israel Hayom reports 53.5 percent of about 142,000 registered members and says initial results will be revealed Monday evening; Ynet reports 75,177 ballots cast at 53 percent of those eligible and says full results are expected only Tuesday morning. The remaining facts are uniform: polling stations closed at 21:00 on August 17 with no extension of voting hours, voting used manual paper ballots after electronic voting was dropped over foreign-interference concerns, counting is centralized at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, and the slate will contest the October 27 Knesset election.
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