Voting

Today we voted in Israel!

Once every four years Israel holds municipal elections. The way it works is that each citizen votes for two things: a Mayor and a party. The second vote is for the party that you want to represent your interests in the municipal council, and the outcome should be proportional representation (of those that vote.) The past four years Jerusalem has had an ultra-right, ultra-religious Mayor and the ultra-right party has dominated the municipality. The result: lots of money for the religious to study in yeshivas all day, not so much attention to city services and improving the schools in Jerusalem.

Everyone here says that one of the big issues is that the "secular" (not that religious) do not vote in the municipal elections. This year, the big favorite is Nir Barkat, a secular candidate for Mayor. The "word on the street" is that he will win unless the secular stay home again. Thus, Nir Barkat's machine has been calling us constantly, and someone even came to our door tonight to make sure that we voted. Lastly, today is a day off for many school-aged children and their parents. I assume that the reason is to encourage voter turnout. A great idea, right?

We voted together today. We all walked to the voting place (a local school) This is Aaron (plus kids) waiting in line to show them our voting card. A moment or two after this we realized that we did not need to wait in this line as it was for people who did not have their voting card.



Then we found our room number (the voters are divided by number into different rooms) that correlates to a number on our voting card. Then, we show them our identity cards. The identity cards serve the same functionality as our US drivers' licenses-- you use them for ID purposes everywhere. (Except of course, for driving, which is an entirely separate card). It's useful to point out that here in the land of milk and bureaucracy we were mailed a voting card which is separate from our identity card. One doesn't actually need the voting card, it's just helpful because it tells you where to vote (there were three poling centers within four blocks of us), and it lists the number of your voting room. If you forget your voting card, or don't have one, you need to wait in the line above, where you find out if you are, in fact, in the right place to vote.

Here is Aaron (a bit perplexed, I think?) in the voting room showing the monitors his identity card. Notice how empty it is? It's because only one person is allowed in the room at a time, though they made an exception for the kids!



Silvie made an identity card at her preschool yesterday, and was very eager to show hers as well. She showed it to the election monitors and they acted as if it was absolutely what she should do. I loved seeing her beam when she pulled it out!




The voting is simple: you get two envelopes, color-coded. The yellow envelope is for Mayor, and you select from all the names on yellow cards running for mayor. Then one places that card in the envelope and seals it. The same goes for the white envelope: find the party name on a white card that you want to represent you, and place it in the envelope. Drop the envelopes in the locked ballot box.

Here is Mim helping me to vote for Nir Barkat. Cross your fingers for a better Jerusalem!



Whatever the controversy over voting machines may be in the US, there are definitely NO electronic ballots here!