While 6.3 million eligible Israeli voters will have to wait for March to vote, 5200 Israeli representatives in 96 embassies and consulates in 77 countries all around the world cast their ballots on Wednesday 19 February, 2020 for the 23rd Knesset ahead of the March 2 general elections.

The first polling station abroad to open was the Israeli Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, which opened at 9 am local time (10 pm Israel on Tuesday). The last polling stations to close were the Israeli consulates in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The largest polling station is the consulate in New York with 700 eligible voters, while the smallest is the Israeli Embassy in Tirana, Albania, with only four eligible voters.

How Isreali Proxy Voting Works

According to the Isreali Election Law, private citizens living abroad cannot vote unless they come to Israel, but diplomats and emissaries sent abroad by the Jewish Agency, Jewish National Fund (KKL), Keren Hayesod and the World Zionist Organization can vote in time for it to be sent via diplomatic mail to Jerusalem and be counted alongside other votes on Election Day. Their spouses and children (aged 18-20) can also cast ballots abroad.

Every Isreali embassy in every country has a mini-election committee of sorts, which usually consists of the consul and another high-ranking official. A polling booth is setup in the embassies and every voter enters the voting booth and places their ballot in a sealed envelope. They then exit the booth and the envelope is placed in a second envelope with the voter’s name and identity number on it. All the envelopes are sent to Jerusalem, where they are held in a safe until Election Day. Members of the Knesset’s election committee verify with the polling stations where the citizen is registered to ensure they haven’t voted twice.

The March 2 general elections will be the third election since the April and September 2019 polls, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition to form a government.