CG/BUR(15)99

16 January 2009

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

ON THE OBSERVATION OF LOCAL ELECTIONS IN ISRAËL

(11 November 2008)

Head of delegation and Rapporteur : Jean-Claude FRECON, France (L, SOC)

Document submitted for approval to the Bureau of the Congress on 20 January 2009

I.  Introduction

The Council of Europe has long maintained relations with Israel.  Thus the Union of Local Authorities in Israel (ULAI) has since June 1994 held observer status with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.  Israel has held observer status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2 December 1957.  Mrs Simona Frankel, Israel’s Ambassador in Marseille, is responsible for relations with the Council of Europe.

In October 2008, the Congress was invited by the ULAI and by Israel’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs to observe the local elections in Israel.

Following approval by the Bureau, a delegation comprising six members of the Congress therefore travelled to Israel from 8 to 12 November 2008.

The Congress delegation took part in several preparatory meetings organised with the assistance of the ULAI.  The final programme of meetings held before the elections is in appendix III.

As the ULAI holds observer status with the Congress, this election observation mission was an ad hoc mission, not a “classical” election observation mission.

On behalf of the delegation as a whole, the rapporteur wishes to express thanks for the assistance and co-operation of all those mentioned on the programme, who showed a readiness to help the observer delegation, particularly the Israeli authorities and the ULAI.

II.         Political context

Municipal elections are held in Israel every five years, in November.  These particular municipal elections proved to be especially important, as they took place in advance of the national elections scheduled for February 2009.  The political pattern taking shape after the local elections could, to a certain extent, point to a political configuration still characterised by a marked split between the three main political parties of Israel, Labour, Kadima and Likud.

Israel’s local elections took place in 159 municipalities, including the colonies of the occupied West Bank and of the annexed Golan Heights, as well as East Jerusalem.  In this electoral context, the city of Jerusalem was very much at the centre of political and religious tensions.  It has a population of almost 733,000, including 481,000 Jews (65%) and 252,000 Arabs (34%), almost all of the latter being Palestinians from East Jerusalem.

III.        Administrative structures and procedures for the local elections

Israel’s administrative architecture encompasses three kinds of local authorities: town and local councils (urban areas with a population of less than 20,000), regional councils (total population of more than 20,000) and industrial cities (without an electorate).  Only town and local councils are voted for in local elections.  There are 77 town councils and 120 local councils.  Regional councils cover rural areas, of which Israel has 53, regulated by a different law.  Regional council elections are to take place at a later date (in 2009).  The industrial cities are uninhabited areas, of which Israel has two, one in the north and the other in the south.

Responsibility for the general organisation of local elections is held by the Ministry of the Interior.  Its remit includes ensuring that voters have easy access to polling stations and taking charge of preparations for the elections.  According to the electoral provisions legislation, election expenses have to be paid by town halls, although some expenditure (on such items as envelopes and ballot papers) is met by the Ministry of the Interior.  In order to win in the first round of voting, a candidate must receive 40% of the votes; otherwise, a second round has to be held a fortnight later.

Each political party has to submit its list of candidates to the polling station commission at least 65 days before polling day. In the elections concerned, there were 600 official candidates for mayoral office, and 1,600 people standing for local councils.

The commissions ensure that voting procedure is properly followed in all the country’s polling stations.  Their duties are to organise and supervise polling stations on election day, to control voters arriving at each station, to identify the voters attending in order to vote, to place ballot papers in the polling booth, and to hand out ballot paper envelopes to voters (a white envelope for the local council and a yellow envelope for the mayor).

Postal and proxy voting are not allowed.  Prisoners are not allowed to vote in municipal elections, although they may exercise their civic rights in legislative elections.

IV.        The election campaign

The law allows election campaigning to continue on election day itself, until such time as the polling stations close.  In this context, the delegation noted how dynamic the campaigning was.  There were posters, leaflets and cardboard cutouts of candidates in the streets, some of them just outside the polling stations, where stalls had also been set up by the competing parties.  The law contains very detailed provisions about the size of posters and the organisation of the campaign.

V.         Election day: 11 November 2008

As soon as polling stations opened, the four Congress teams deployed to the six localities listed below, evenly distributed across Israel’s territory:

            Jerusalem (all the teams, including the head of delegation),

Rishon LeTzion,

Ramla,

Kvar Sava,

Levahim,

Rahat.

The delegation regretted the fact that the local elections took place on a working day in Israel, probably having some effect on the turnout.  This was all the more regrettable for the fact that turnout in municipal elections had been in decline ever since 1950.

The peak hours were at the end of the day. Generally speaking, there was a doorkeeper at the entrance to the polling stations ensuring that voters came in one by one.  Thus the confidentiality of the casting of votes was properly observed, and no attempts to influence voters were noted by any of the Congress teams.

Overall, the Congress delegation concluded that there were no significant irregularities during the polling in the local elections.

VI.        Election results

The local election results varied very widely, and a number of candidates, especially in large cities, had stood on independent lists under no obligation to any of the major parties (Kadima, Likud, Labour and Shaas).  It is therefore difficult to establish any correlation between local and national elections.

There is a website containing the full results of the local elections:

http://www.ulai.org.il/frameifdmye.htm

Overall turnout was 55% according to official figures (42% in Jerusalem and 37% in Tel Aviv and Haifa), a rate 5% higher than in 2003.  Turnout was particularly high in the Arab sectors.

VII.       Conclusions

The local elections of 11 November took place in compliance with international electoral standards.  Polling operations were conducted calmly, and the delegation did not find any significant irregularities.

The polling stations performed their duties perfectly.

The press releases issued by the Congress on 12 November 2008 are at appendix I.

MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS DELEGATION: 11 NOVEMBER 2008

Congress

►  Mr Jean-Claude Frécon, Vice-President, Senator (France, SOC, L) – Head of the delegation and Rapporteur
►  Ms Susan Bolam, Member, Northumberland County Council (United Kingdom, EPP/CD, R)
►  Mr Ian Micallef, President of the Chamber of local authorities, Councillor of Gzira (Malta, EPP/CD, L)
►  Mr Dobrica Milovanovic, Mayor of the Assembly of the Municipality of Kragujevac (Serbia, NI, R)
►  Mr Fabio Pellegrini, Vice-President, Municipal Councillor of Rapolano Terme (Italy, SOC, L)
►  Mr Paolo Rondelli, Municipal councillor of San Marino (San Marino, SOC, L)

Congress Secretariat
Antonella Cagnolati, Director of the Congress
Jean-Philippe Bozouls, Executive Secretary of the Chamber of local authorities of the Congress
Stéphanie Poirel, Co-Secretary of the the Institutional Committee

APPENDIX I

PRESS RELEASE PUBLISHED BY THE CONGRESS DELEGATION ON 

12 NOVEMBER 2008

Press release - 800(2008)

Congress observes local elections in Israel

Jerusalem, 12.11.2008 – A Congress delegation observed the municipal elections in Israel on 11 November 2008, at the invitation of the Union of Local Authorities in Israel (ULAI) and Israeli authorities. This is the first time that the Congress has observed local elections in this country and it was the only international observer on site.

The delegation, led by Jean-Claude Frécon (France, SOC, L), held a working meeting with Meir Sheetret, Minister of the Interior of the Israeli government, and met many representatives of local authorities as well as university academics specialising in elections.

The delegation was deployed in the areas of Rishon Lezion, Kfar Sava, Levahim-Rahat, Ramla and Jerusalem.

“Local democracy in Israel is remarkably active and dynamic despite the low turnout observed, particularly in Jewish communities and large towns,” said Senator Frécon after the day of observation.

In this connection, the Congress delegation regretted that the local elections were held on a working day (unlike the national elections), as this probably affected turnout.

It also noted a degree of depoliticisation of local elections, in which the major national parties frequently took no part.

To follow up on the observation, Head of the delegation Jean-Claude Frécon will present a report at the Congress’s autumn session (1, 2 and 3 December 2008).

Members of the Congress delegation:

Jean-Claude Frécon, Vice-President, municipal councillor for Pouilly-lès-Feurs and Senator (France, SOC, L) – Head of the delegation

Susan Bolam, member, Northumberland County Council (United Kingdom, EPP/CD, R)

Ian Micallef, President of the Chamber of Local Authorities, councillor for Gzira (Malta, EPP/CD, L)

Dobrica Milovanovic, Deputy Mayor of Kragujevac (Serbia, NI, R)

Fabio Pellegrini, Vice-President, municipal councillor for Rapolano Terme (Italy, SOC, L)

Paolo Rondelli, municipal councillor for San Marino (San Marino, SOC, L)

Secretariat

Antonella Cagnolati, Director of the Congress

Jean-Philippe Bozouls,Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress

Stéphanie Poirel, Co-Secretary of the Institutional Committee

Contact presse: Dmitri Marchenkov, Head of the Communication Unit of the Congress Tel : +33 (0)3 88 41 38 44 ; [email protected]

Communication Unit of the Congress
of Local and Regional Authorities
Tel: +33 (0)3 90 21 49 36
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 27 51
[email protected]
www.coe.int/congress

APPENDIX II

Observation mission of the congress of local and regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Municipal elections in Israel from 8 November to 12 November 2008

DRAFT PROGRAMME

Saturday, 8 November 2008

17 :00-18 :30       Meeting with Prof. Eran Razin, Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Sunday, 9 November 2008

10 :00 – 10 :30    Briefing anf discussion about co-operation between the Congress and ULAI with Mr Avi RABINOVITCH, Deputy Director General of ULAI

                            

10 :30 – 11 :30    Explanatory meeting about municipal elections system in Israel with Ms Noa BEN ARI, Legal adviser of ULAI

                  

11 :30 – 12 :00    Meeting with NGO Municipal Alliance for Peace (MAP) representatives

·         Mr. Eric BOVEN, Team leader

·         Ms Riman BARAKAT, APLA Co-ordinator

·         Mr. Yonathan DRUCKMAN, ULAI Co-ordinator

13 :00 – 15 :30    Visit to Holocaust Memorial Museum - Yad Vashem

16 :00 – 17 :00    Meeting with Mr Sassi Katzir, Inspector general of the municipal elections

                            

17 :30 – 18 :30    Meeting with Ms Anna HAZAN, Local Government Administration, Ministry of Interior

Lundi 10 novembre 2008

10 :00 – 11 :00    Meeting with Mr Rafael Barak, Deputy Director for Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

                            

11 :30 – 12 :00    Meeting with H.E. the Minister Mr Meir Sheetret, Minister of the Interior

                            

14 :00 – 14 :45    Meeting with Mr Ehud SHILAT, former Inspector general for elections

17 :00 – 19 :00    Knesset (Israeli Parliament) – Memorial Ceremony for Itzhak Rabin

Tuesday,11 November 2008

7 :30                    Opening of the voting polls in Jerusalem (all the delegation)

9 :30                    ELECTION DAY – Deployment of teams in different municipalities

For each team, there will be some meetings with the General Secretary of the city’s municipal election, the Mayor and some of the other candidates.

18 :30                  Coming back of the teams to Jerusalem

Wednesday, 12 November 2008

9 :00 – 11 :00      De-briefing and press release

                            

12 :00 – 13 :00    PRESS CONFERENCE AND WORKING MEETING WITH THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ULAI, MR AVI RABINOVITCH, IN TEL AVIV

                            

APPENDIX III

DEPLOYMENT OF TEAMS– 11 November 2008

1	JERUSALEM RISHON LEZION	Jean-Claude Frecon Jean-Philippe Bozouls
2	JERUSALEM KFAR SAVA	Dobrica Milovanovic Antonella Cagnolati
3	JERUSALEM LEVAHIM RAHAT	Fabio Pellegrini Paolo Rondelli
4	JERUSALEM RAMLA	Susan Bolam Stéphanie Poirel