The IDF on Wednesday held a one-day round of early voting ahead of the March 23 elections next week, hoping to make the process smoother due to the pandemic.
Some 335 dedicated polling stations were distributed at bases around the country to allow service personnel to cast their ballots. Further voting will take place at bases on Election Day itself.
2 View gallery
An IDF soldier casts her early ballot for the March 23 elections at a military polling station
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The early ballots were meant to help speed up vote-counting on Election Day, as soldiers use the "double envelope" system for absentee votes that ensures their anonymity, but is more time-consuming to count.
The early voting was held at the request of the Central Elections Committee, which said 550 ballot boxes would be deployed at bases throughout Israel on Election Day.
Officials were expecting a larger number of absentee votes this year, estimated at over 550,000, due to many Israelis in quarantine or hospitalized due to coronavirus.
Earlier this month, Israel's diplomats around the world also took part in early voting, beginning in New Zealand on March 20.
This year, for the first time, Israeli diplomats were voting from newly established missions in the UAE, Morocco and Bahrain.
Under Israeli law, citizens living abroad cannot vote unless they are in Israel, but exceptions are made for diplomats and their families.