Have You Voted Yet?
I have. I took my eleven year old with me. There were a few bored policeman at the entrance, only one of which returned my "good morning". Since there was no line I went in right away (and advantage of living in a small village!).
For those of you in America, or immigrants who have not voted in Israel yet, a short explanation. Despite the fact that Israel is a hi-tech powerhouse, the voting here is strictly third world. You present your teudat zehut (identity card) to one of four or five people sitting at a table and they cross your name off the list. (The group consists of people approved to be observers - and in our case usually include a left-winger from Tel-Aviv whose job it is to make sure that the voting, and the count, is done correctly) Then you receive an official blue envelope and walk to stand behind a blue cardboard screen. Behind the screen is a tray with a bunch of little slips of paper with one, two, or three Hebrew letters, and the name of the political party written on the bottom. (There is also a blank slip for those who want to protest). You choose one slip (if you make a mistake and put more than one in your vote is disqualified) and place it in the envelope and seal it. You then walk back to the table where you received the envelope, and place it in a box.
Third world certainly - but then again there are no problems with electric outages, "hanging chads", and other technical problems.
My son enjoyed putting the envelope in the box. I'm still surprised that he didn't announce to all present who I voted for! (Likud).
Nu, what about you?
I have. I took my eleven year old with me. There were a few bored policeman at the entrance, only one of which returned my "good morning". Since there was no line I went in right away (and advantage of living in a small village!).
For those of you in America, or immigrants who have not voted in Israel yet, a short explanation. Despite the fact that Israel is a hi-tech powerhouse, the voting here is strictly third world. You present your teudat zehut (identity card) to one of four or five people sitting at a table and they cross your name off the list. (The group consists of people approved to be observers - and in our case usually include a left-winger from Tel-Aviv whose job it is to make sure that the voting, and the count, is done correctly) Then you receive an official blue envelope and walk to stand behind a blue cardboard screen. Behind the screen is a tray with a bunch of little slips of paper with one, two, or three Hebrew letters, and the name of the political party written on the bottom. (There is also a blank slip for those who want to protest). You choose one slip (if you make a mistake and put more than one in your vote is disqualified) and place it in the envelope and seal it. You then walk back to the table where you received the envelope, and place it in a box.
Third world certainly - but then again there are no problems with electric outages, "hanging chads", and other technical problems.
My son enjoyed putting the envelope in the box. I'm still surprised that he didn't announce to all present who I voted for! (Likud).
Nu, what about you?
posted by westbankmama at 8:27 AM
6 Comments:
I'm going now. I think I'm voting Labour but might have a swing to Meretz depending on who harasses me outside.
Baruch Marzel proudly received my vote.
hey i saw you on my cousins site [becsuniverse] and decided to put in my two cents: i refused to vote today in israel, because truthfully i believe that everyone running of full of it. i am afraid to trust the right any more because of ariel sharon [before the election everyone i was hearing all the time that even bibi would give up land]. i wouldnt rather vote an arab party than vote for anybody on the left, kadima, green party etc. oh and eleh yarok added something to their campagin that i TOTATLLY disgree with [amongst other things...] so i am staying home today. check out my blog!
artist - back from England, huh?
joe - I hope your vote wasn't wasted... I can just see the faces of some of the MKs if he gets in...
daniel - think of it this way - if you don't vote, your voice will definitely not be counted. If you do vote, it might. Why waste the opportunity?
Very sleepy kalpi: Got harrassed by some kids from Kadima and a bloke from Shas. Emerged unscathed!
And "Daniel"- vote! Such protest is pointless: If you do some more research you might find that not everyone is "full of it."
Saul from Tel-Aviv/
I also voted Likud! But now i feel that may be i should not///
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