Israel may extend voting hours amid high election turnout

Voting hours extended

Israel's Central Elections Committee said Tuesday that polling stations may remain open beyond the scheduled closing time of 10 p.m. due to high voter turnout in the country's general elections, according to The Times of Israel.

Dean Livne, acting director general of the committee, told reporters that stations would continue operating after the deadline if voters remained waiting in line. "At many polling stations, there are lines. When you reach a high voter turnout, there will always be lines," Livne said during an update from the committee's command center at the Knesset.

Record participation

"We promise, everyone will vote. If there is a line at 10 p.m., the polling stations will continue to operate until everyone who arrived by 10 p.m. has voted," Livne said, adding that there was no need for concern. Voting began at 7 a.m. across Israel, with more than 7.3 million eligible voters casting ballots for the 120-seat Knesset.

First vote since Gaza war

The committee reported that voter turnout had reached 31.5% by noon, more than three percentage points higher than the previous elections and the highest figure recorded at that hour since 1973. Approximately 2.39 million voters had cast their ballots by midday, and the elections mark Israel's first general vote since the start of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.