A suggestion to let people infected with coronavirus vote in person during Israel's expected next elections sparked uproar in a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Tuesday.
Health officials responded with incredulity to the proposition by the Central Elections Committee, which oversees all aspects of the electoral process. The debate shortly after descended into chaos as officials lashed out at one another.
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A polling station during March 2020 elections, at the onset of the pandemic
(Photo: Avi Rochach)
Israel is expected to go to the polls for a record fourth time in less than two years on March 23 after MKs failed to approve a delay of the budget deadline, with the Knesset set to be dispersed by midnight Wednesday.
Committee chairman MK Michael Malchieli presented the bill to allow confirmed virus carriers to vote at the ballot box at the start of the meeting. Malchieli is a member of the Shas party, which represents Sephardic members of an ultra-Orthodox community disproportionately hit by the virus.
The proposal prompted a strong opposition from Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Elrai-Price.
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Central Elections Committee head Orly Adas and Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Elrai-Price
(Photo: The Knesset Channel )
"Verified carriers allowed to leave the house only for an urgent medical emergency," she said. "They do not even go out for a funeral of an immediate family member. If people will know that verified patients are allowed to go to the polls, there will be those who will be afraid to go out to vote."
Central Elections Committee head Orly Adas then replied, saying, "We can trust them [COVID patients] to go out and vote and come back home".
"If a [coronavirus] patient is allowed to undergo a dialysis treatment, the right to vote is no less important," she said. "Voting by mail is irrelevant in the State of Israel and we do not want to see the repeat of the images we saw in the United States."