Hundreds of Sites will Serve COVID-19 Patients on Israel’s Election Day

Jerusalem, 9 March, 2021 (TPS) -- Over 600 designated sites with over 800 ballots will be established on Election Day on March 23 to serve Coronavirus (COVID-19) patients and Israelis in quarantine.

The additional cost of these special complexes is NIS 77 million.

Some 40,000 rides organized by Central Election Committee will transport COVID-19 patients to polling stations, at a cost of NIS 20 million.

It is estimated that there will be about 37,000 patients and about 50,000 Israelis in quarantine with the right to vote on Election Day.

The Central Election Committee has also converted 50 Egged buses to polling stations.

A polling station was installed on each bus, with room for three members of the polling committee, a place for an observer, and a place for the Supervisor of Election Purity.

The polling station-bus is intended to boost polling stations in all 19 regional districts of the Election Commission, to reduce loads in cases of congestion at the polls, and in case there is an increase in the number of “Vote and Go” voters who are casting their ballots in a drive through style polling station for COVID-19 patients.

The CEC is also considering placing ballots at Ben Gurion Airport to serve Israelis flying in on elections day to exercise their democratic right to vote.

With two weeks to go to elections day, no one party or block has a significant lead, meaning that depending on the political intricacies, battles and rivalries, Israel may be facing a fifth round of elections in less than two years.