Lavi Asks Elections Chairman to Release Polling-Station Protocol Notes

Lavi asked Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg on Thursday, November 12, to make public the notes recorded by polling-station committees during the election for the 26th Knesset. Attorney Yitzhak Bam submitted the request on the organization’s behalf to Sohlberg, who is also deputy president of the Supreme Court. The request covers pages 4–6 of Form 12 and any notes attached to them. These pages contain observations made during voting by polling-station secretaries, committee members and observers about unusual events. Bam distinguished those records from the results and vote-counting sheets previously made public: Lavi is seeking documentation of the conduct of voting as well as the totals. Lavi said: “We demand full transparency and disclosure of the original documents.” The organization argues that access to the contemporaneous records would allow the public to compare them with allegations raised after the election and would help establish public confidence in the process. The letter cites 2,452 approaches from factions and candidate lists concerning 1,350 polling stations, alongside 1,239 approaches from members of the public concerning events at 750 stations. The committee examined protocols from 9,069 polling stations and previously announced that its checks had found no evidence indicating damage to election integrity.