IDF soldiers vote at warzone polling stations for local elections

The IDF has opened 12 polling stations throughout the Gaza Strip and the border with Lebanon to allow soldiers to vote in the upcoming municipal elections, to be held for civilians on Tuesday, February 27. 

Soldiers are already able to vote, and will be able to until polls close in the rest of the country on Tuesday. 

The IDF is preparing to open about 925 military polling stations in total, of which about 150 are mobile polling stations, to reach all those in both regular and reserve service across the country. 

Israel’s municipal elections were originally slated for Tuesday, October 31, 2023, but have since been postponed multiple times— first until January 30, and then again to the current date— to ensure that candidates and voters were not overly impeded by the ongoing war with Hamas.

Runoffs moved up for Ramadan

Voting will take place on two ballots, one for chief executive positions and the other for local councils. While council votes are allocated proportionally, along the same lines as Knesset mandates in national elections, candidates for chief executive offices must receive at least 40% of the vote or else compete in a runoff election. 

Those runoff elections, which would typically be held two weeks after the first round, have been moved up by two days, to Sunday, March 10, to take place before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins that evening.

For more information about the municipal elections, read The Jerusalem Post's basic guide here.