Likud Primary Polls Close Without Extension, 75,177 Members Voted

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.