Civil Rights Group Warns Of Slow Voting At Arab Polling Stations

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel asked Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg to send inspectors to polling stations on Tuesday after reports of long lines and unusually slow processing of voters in Arab sector towns. The association said it received reports of delays from numerous localities, including Rahat, Tel Sheva, Laqiya, Segev Shalom, Abu Tulul, Umm Batin, Iksal, Jaljulya, Kafr Kara, Jisr e-Zarka, Kafr Manda, Ar'ara, Tamra, Kafr Kanna, Tira, and Daburiya.

At Segev Shalom High School, police officers and Border Police National Guard personnel were reportedly stopping voters from entering the polling station compound, citing crowd control. The report stated that only a small number of voters were inside the compound while about 200 people waited outside the school for an extended period as officers blocked their entry.

ACRI stated that delays of this kind could keep large numbers of Arab voters from casting ballots in Tuesday's election. The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel made a separate appeal to the Central Elections Committee on Tuesday, requesting urgent delivery of Arabic language ballot slips after reports that such slips were unavailable at various polling stations.

Voting took place Tuesday across Israel. ACRI's appeal to Sohlberg was issued the same day.