Israeli soldiers began casting their ballots in early voting for the country's 26th Knesset election on Wednesday, with 850 military polling stations deployed across IDF bases and operational sectors ahead of the nationwide vote on October 27. The IDF said approximately a quarter of the polling stations are mobile, allowing troops stationed in remote locations and combat zones to exercise their voting rights. Military voting will continue until polling stations close on election day.
Col. Vered Ben Yehuda, the IDF's chief elections officer, said the military was committed to ensuring that every service member could vote, including soldiers engaged in combat operations beyond Israel's borders. "Our mission is to enable all IDF service members to exercise their democratic right to vote by secret ballot, even during operational activity and combat beyond the border," she said. "The IDF is a national army that will do everything necessary to ensure the elections are conducted properly."
Military polling station for IDF soldiers
(Photo: IDF)
Under the military's voting procedures, soldiers may cast their ballots at a civilian polling station corresponding to their registered address at the Interior Ministry or at any military polling station, provided they vote only once. The military system is designed to accommodate soldiers whose operational assignments prevent them from reaching their regular polling locations.
Voting at military polling stations uses a double-envelope system to preserve ballot secrecy and prevent duplicate voting. Soldiers place their chosen party's ballot slip inside a blue envelope behind a voting screen. That envelope is then inserted into a white outer envelope bearing the service member's identifying information.
Once voting concludes, the sealed military ballot boxes are transferred to the Central Elections Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem for counting. Specially trained regional military elections officers are responsible for collecting the locked ballot boxes and maintaining supervision until they are formally handed over to election officials.
During the counting process, the blue envelope containing the vote is separated for counting, while the white envelope bearing the soldier's personal information is destroyed. The entire process of opening ballot boxes and counting votes is conducted by the Central Elections Committee, without IDF involvement, ensuring that military personnel can exercise their democratic rights while maintaining the secrecy and independence of the electoral process.