The IDF is completing its preparations for the upcoming elections amid the current operational reality, deploying more than 800 polling stations across all units and sectors. Early voting in the IDF will begin on the evening of October 20th and will continue for seven days, until the election day on October 27th.
The preparations are meant to enable all service members, both active- and reserve-duty, to exercise their right to vote, even during operational activity. For the first time, troops will also be able to vote beyond Israel's borders, and wherever there are service members, stationary and mobile polling stations will be operated as needed.
In the coming week, the IDF is expected to deploy over 800 polling stations. Along with the stationary stations, the IDF will also operate mobile polling stations, which will stop at multiple units following a pre-determined schedule. The mobile polling station committee will be accompanied by an armed officer or NCO who will oversee security, and while travelling between units, the secondary cover of the ballot box will remain locked.
Soldiers can choose whether to vote at a military ballot or a civilian one. Voting will be conducted using the double-envelope method, designed to verify voter eligibility and ensure each eligible voter only votes once.
Col. Vered Ben-Yehuda has been placed in charge of the IDF election apparatus, serving as the military’s elections officer alongside her role as head of the IDF Civilian Employment Center. Hundreds of election officers and approximately 3,000 soldiers who have undergone training to serve on polling station committees will take part in managing the system.
Each polling station will be managed by a four-member committee made up of IDF soldiers. Committee members undergo training and are familiar with the procedures and rules required for conducting the vote.
The IDF emphasized that “the role of the election apparatus is focused solely on conducting the vote and ensuring the integrity of the process, and not on political content or the views of voters. Elections in the military will be held while preserving the IDF’s nonpartisan, state-oriented character and the principle that the military remains outside the political discourse."