Israel begins counting more than 500,000

Counting of absentee ballots began overnight into Thursday

In Israel, overnight into Thursday, the counting of so-called ballots in double envelopesbegan — there are more than 500,000 of them, and they could potentially affect the final distribution of seats in the Knesset. According to the Israeli public broadcasting corporation, as cited by the Anadolu agency, the count is expected to be completed by Thursday evening. This system is used for voting outside one's registered polling station: it is used by soldiers, diplomats, police officers and displaced residents. First, the commission checks the details on the outer envelope to rule out double voting, then separates it from the anonymous ballot and only afterwards counts the vote.

No bloc has a majority yet

After the counting of regular ballots, according to Channel 12, the bloc of incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predictably receives 53 mandates, the opposition bloc led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot — 48, and the predominantly Arab parties — 19. Neither of the two main blocs reaches the 61 mandates out of 120 in the Knesset needed for a majority. The Joint List predictably receives 12 seats, the United Arab List (Ra'am) — seven, giving the Arab parties a record combined representation of 19 mandates. It is precisely the remaining more than 500,000 votes that could change the number of seats held by individual parties and the balance of power between the blocs. Turnout in the election was 77.7% — the highest figure since 1999, according to the Central Elections Committee.