Continuing the discussion from Voting 2026 - Good, Bad, and Ugly:
I figured this is worth its own thread.
It’s a very big election. Turnout is the highest ever recorded at 55.7% and the polls aren’t closed yet.
I was reading the Arab turnout is also looking to be the highest ever.
With any luck the fascist incumbent will lose this one.
Lots of people flew to Israel for this election. Tickets were crazy expensive. My parents thought about doing it (and my grandma who is passionately anti-Netanyahu and was marching against him during the judicial reform stuff at her very advanced age even wanted to pay for their tickets, not that they’d have taken her up on that it would be harder for her to afford then for them) but weren’t able to swing it with their work schedule.
After Brazil and Serbia I’m feeling optimistic.
We’re at the time of year when I’m never sure which other nations are or aren’t on daylight savings time. Is Israel currently 6 hours ahead of NYC? (I’m looking for when the polls will close in a time zone i know. 
)
Bibi is responsible for October 7th, and people haven’t forgotten his Judicial Reform stunts either. I am very hopeful that he will be sent packing.
Israel went on DST last weekend I believe.
It is 6 hours ahead of Eastern Time. 5:18pm as I post.
It looks like polls close at 10pm.
How long do the counts usually take?
So 4pm ET? Thanks.
Yes, polls close at 4pm Eastern Time.
Alessan addressed this in the other thread:
I’m seeing serious discussion of whether turnout will reach 80%.
Do you know what the previous high was?
79% in 1973 after the Yom Kippur war.
That makes sense. Thank you.
So, what is the political climate with the way things stand? Since Trump is kicking the ass of Iran, perhaps Israel’s biggest enemy, does that translate into an approval rating for their present government? Or, are they tired of all the conflict and want a kinder, gentler government? Also, since expatriates are spending big money to fly home and vote, does that mean Israel has no option for remote voting electronically?
Little bit more context: Golda Meir did win that election but she had also called it herself right after the war to show that she still had a mandate, and after a gruelling marathon to form a government she resigned leadership of the party.
Moderating:
Are you making a joke? Please don’t try to hijack this thread with such a post.
Sorry, I just thought the U.S. approach to perhaps their biggest enemy would have some influence on how they view things at the polls.
A lot of people really really really hate Bibi, his base of supporters are extremely die-hard, and the Haredim are a giant fucking mess.
This comes up internally for discussion every so often, Israel intentionally doesn’t allow absentee ballots to avoid people living abroad voting too easily so that the people voting have more stake in the game.