Israel’s Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on a petition challenging the decision not to place special ballot boxes in nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the upcoming Knesset election, reversing a practice used in the last two elections. The arrangement was enacted as a temporary provision and allowed tens of thousands of eligible voters living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities to vote at their place of residence. Ahead of the 26th Knesset election, the Central Elections Committee asked the Knesset to anchor the arrangement for the upcoming election and even make it permanent. But following coalition opposition, the provision was removed from the election bill.
During the hearing, attorney Yuval Yoaz, representing the petitioners, argued the change was made just months before the election, after residents had developed an expectation that the arrangement would continue. “It was in place for the 24th Knesset election and the 25th Knesset election,” he said. “The Elections Committee comes and asks the Knesset’s Constitution Committee to extend the temporary provision. The Constitution Committee comes and says: I don’t care, without even giving a reason.”
Justice Ofer Grosskopf expressed reservations about the court intervening in the decision not to legislate the arrangement, responding: “There are many laws that don’t have a political majority or don’t receive political support. We can’t replace the Knesset.” Yoaz clarified that the petition doesn’t claim the state is deliberately trying to prevent elderly people from voting, but rather addresses whether the court can intervene to protect their practical ability to exercise their right to vote. “No one is arguing that the elderly shouldn’t be allowed to vote or that it should be made harder for them,” he said. “The question is whether the court knows how to pave the way.”
The petitioners proposed, among other things, an expansive interpretation of existing law that would allow the Central Elections Committee to give maximum weight to the ability of assisted living residents to exercise their right to vote. Behind the petition lies a dispute that arose in the Constitution Committee over the Elections Committee’s proposal to anchor ballot boxes in nursing homes as a permanent arrangement. Committee chairman MK Simcha Rotman said in discussions that he supports increasing voter turnout, but noted that the demographic characteristics of the assisted living population—identified with the center-left—and the impact of placing ballot boxes inside the facilities on election results cannot be ignored. Among other things, he proposed as an alternative allowing anyone over age 80 to vote using a double envelope.
More than 50 residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities petitioned the Supreme Court following the removal of the arrangement, arguing that for some elderly people, particularly those with mobility difficulties, the decision could mean real difficulty reaching polling stations and exercising their right to vote.