United Torah Judaism Reportedly Tells Polling Representatives to Phone In Turnout Counts

United Torah Judaism has circulated instructions asking its polling-station committee representatives to telephone the party with cumulative voter counts, according to a report published on October 27. The instructions were disclosed after the High Court clarified that party representatives and observers may not transmit actual turnout totals by any method. The reported tally sheets tell representatives to mark each voter, including those voting with an outer envelope. At reporting intervals, representatives are to circle the running total and record the time. The instructions prohibit digital reporting inside the polling room and instead direct representatives to leave the room and call a dedicated telephone number. The information requested is aggregate turnout, without voter identities or serial numbers. The party also reportedly circulated committee guidance allowing members to count voters and occasionally report the total without identifying details. A separate advertisement in HaMevaser asks voters themselves to telephone confirmation that they have voted, a different mechanism from reports by committee representatives. The court’s supplemental ruling on October 25 extended the prohibition beyond digital transmission. It followed an earlier judgment overturning permission for digital turnout reports. The newly reported instructions describe what representatives were told to do; they do not establish that counts have already been transmitted.