Israelis going to the polls

[brooklynite]

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israelis went to the polls Tuesday to elect a new parliament, facing a future without popular Prime Minister Ariel Sharon but with a Hamas-led Palestinian government on its borders.

...snip...

Pre-election opinion polls in Israel showed the neophyte Kadima party, led by acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, holding an edge over traditional power holders Labor and Likud.

Kadima was founded by Sharon shortly before a debilitating stroke that left him in a coma. It will be the party's first election.

If Kadima wins, the results will be historic. It will be the first time in Israel's history that a main left-wing or right-wing party has not won a national election.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/28/israel.election/index.html

[katinmn]

1. Low voter turnout: under 22%

Election Day is a national public holiday in Israel, with polling stations open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Five hours after the polls opened, the election commission estimated voter turnout at just under 22 percent.

[Scurrilous]

2. Voter turnout by noon lowest in Israeli history

<snip>

"By 12 P.M., voter turnout in Tuesday's election for the 17th Knesset was the lowest in Israeli history.

Polling stations opened at 7 A.M. 5,014,622 voters are to participate in the elections. The polling stations - there are 8,280 across the country - will close at 10 P.M., at which time the three main TV stations will release exit polls.

Just 9.9 percent of Israel's registered voters had cast their ballots by 10 A.M. The trend continued as the day wore on. By noon, just 21.7 percent of voters had cast their ballots - the lowest turnout in Israeli history.

In 2003, noon-time voter turnout was recorded at 24 percent.

Voter turnout in the Arab and Druze sectors was also low. By mid-day, only 11 percent of voters had cast their ballots in the northern Israeli Arab town of Shfaram, 1.5 percent in the Druze town Daliat al-Carmel and in Haifa, only 7.5 percent of Arabs had turned out to vote."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/699377.html

[katinmn]

3. Hard-liners always seem to benefit in low turnout situations. :-(

I wonder if election fraud is an issue in Israel like it is here. Seems to be a problem everywhere these days.

More from your link:

The prevailing assessment is that low turnout will work to the detriment of Kadima and Labor.

Both front-runner Kadima and the Labor Party fear a low voter turnout, particularly in light of the opinion polls published in recent days. According to a Haaretz-Channel 10 survey, one-third (34 percent to be precise) of the country's some 5 million eligible voters do not intend to cast a ballot for the 17th Knesset.

President Moshe Katzav on Tuesday called on all Israelis citizens to vote in order to shape Israel's future. He added that citizens should not wait for others to set the country's fate.

"Get out and vote" is one of the sentences most closely identified with Ariel Sharon, and it is also the mantra officials from his party, Kadima, repeated Monday during last-minute campaign visits and speeches.

Although Kadima has scored well in the polls - Monday's survey predicted it would win 36 seats - the combination of complacency and undecided votes leave room for Election Day surprises.

[MrPrax]

6. Hardliners like Yisrael Beitenu

Yisrael Beitenu--or 'Israel Our Home' party is expected to do well with their interesting peace proposal. (It's leader is Avigdor Lieberman!! and no not Jean Le Pen ;-)...)

Since a two-state solution is inevitable, then they advocate that all the Israeli-Arabs be transfered to Gaza and a slither of the WestBank as a 'population swap'...

These racists are expected to do well...

Imagine election coverage if there was a popular third party in the US that advocated 'transfering' hispanics to Latin America and it was a party made up of people who just came to America in the last ten years!!

Then imagine that the international media didn't even mention it in their election perspectives...(not likely)

Jeez wonder why the MSM doesn't like to talk about these little 'third' parties that end up being part of Israeli government as coalition partners?

Can't figure it out...

:freak:

[tatertop]

7. This is the worst that could happen

What else would we expect?

[SoCalDem]

4. Is Diebold counting their votes?..n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. One good thing I suppose

Maybe they'll let Sharon go once the election is over.