Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party filed a complaint with Israel's Central Elections Committee on Tuesday, alleging that ballot slips bearing its voting symbol, 'Derech', were missing, damaged or defaced at polling stations in several locations across the country, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Source: The Jerusalem Post via Times of India coverage
The party said it had received reports of slips being removed, marked with pens or turned over inside voting booths, which could lead to votes being disqualified. Party chairman Yoaz Hendel said, after what he called Likud's fake news campaign, the party received numerous complaints about its ballot slips being defaced or removed, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Yashar described the incidents as a possible systematic attempt to disrupt its vote. The allegations had not been independently established at the time of reporting, and no finding by the Central Elections Committee was reported.
Yashar officials also alleged, in statements on social media, that long queues had formed at polling stations in the party's strongholds and warned supporters to stay vigilant and document problems. Those queue claims are the party's allegation and were not independently verified in the reports.
Why it matters in a deadlocked race
Israelis voted on Tuesday in the first election since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023 and the wars that followed. Final pre-election polls gave neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor Eisenkot's rival alliance a clear path to the 61 seats needed to form a government in the 120-seat Knesset, Reuters and the Associated Press reported.
Polls were due to close at 10 p.m. local time (2000 GMT). After the count, President Isaac Herzog will consult party leaders and ask the candidate considered most likely to succeed to try to form a government — a process that could take weeks if the deadlock in the final polls is borne out.