More voters, more ballots

Election budget to reach NIS 400M

Knesset's Finance Committee estimates moving general elections up will cost public a hefty sum

Moran Azulay|Published: 04.30.12 , 13:21

Knesset member Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), who heads the Knesset's Finance Committee, said Monday that the budget for the upcoming election is likely to reach NIS 400 million (approx. $106.7 million).

The past week has seen growing speculation about the possibility of the government opting to call for early elections. Should the Knesset be dispersed, a general election is likely to be set for September.

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Gafni refrained from expressing his personal opinion about the possibility of an early election, saying only that cutting the Knesset's summer session short means delaying several planned reforms.

"We are currently starting our internal review of the matter," Attorney Orly Adas, head of Central Elections Committee, told Ynet. The current number of registered voters in Israel is 5,566,884.

The next elections will see Israelis voting in 10,205 ballots.

Adas added that the final voters' registry takes effect 51 days prior to the elections and includes anyone who turned 18 by that date.

The Central Elections Committee's budget alone will be about NIS 250 million ($66,71 million).

Meanwhile, the Muslim and Arab sectors were irked by the possibility that the elections may infringe on Ramadan, which this year falls on the month of September.

"It is inconceivable that the prime minister will be vigilant of Jewish holidays while completely ignoring Muslim holidays when setting the election date," MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) said.

High Arab Monitoring Committee Chairman Mohammad Zeidan added: "(Israel's) Muslims play an important role in the election. They cannot infringe on Ramadan.

"The prime minister is taking steps meant to serve solely his interests. We will demand the elections take our holidays into account."