After an extended night of broadcast exit polls, political addresses, and ballot-count updates, the Central Elections Committee announced Wednesday morning that a near-definitive picture of the 26th Knesset should emerge by Thursday afternoon, after counting operations conclude and external double envelopes are processed. By Wednesday afternoon, approximately 86% of regular polling station votes had been tallied and integrated into the national ledger. Still, the final distribution of parliamentary seats and bloc balances remains subject to realignment.
A primary driver of late-stage seat movement is the substantial volume of external double envelopes. These ballots, cast by active-duty IDF soldiers and commanders, police officers, security personnel, hospitalized patients, medical staff, prisoners, and diplomatic representatives stationed abroad, are handled under distinct statutory protocols.
1+Before opening any external envelope, election workers at the central Knesset counting facility must conduct a meticulous digital cross-reference against the primary national voter registry. This procedural safeguard ensures that each voter was legally eligible and that no duplicate ballot was cast at a municipal station. Only after this verification is cleared are the outer envelopes discarded to protect voter anonymity, allowing the inner standard ballots to be added to the national vote pool. Given historical patterns, the influx of military and institutional votes can alter the mathematical quotient required to secure borderline mandates, potentially shifting seats among factions operating near the 3.25% electoral threshold.
Meanwhile, the Central Elections Committee continues to audit protocol sheets submitted by local polling committees nationwide. When regional inspectors detect mathematical discrepancies, reporting gaps, or procedural irregularities, they conduct secondary reviews and, when warranted, complete manual recounts. This comprehensive verification effort is slated to continue through Thursday evening to ensure complete numerical integrity. Even as counting concludes on Thursday, the published figures will remain technically non-final. Under Israeli electoral law,
the Central Elections Committee has an eight-day window from Election Day to officially publish the certified results in the government gazette (Reshumot), making Wednesday, November 4, the final deadline
.
1+Immediately after the results are officially gazetted, formal political activity will move to the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. President Isaac Herzog will begin statutory consultations with designated representatives of all elected Knesset factions to gather recommendations before tasking a lawmaker with the formal mandate to form a governing coalition. The 26th Knesset is scheduled to officially convene for its festive inaugural swearing-in session on Tuesday, November 10.