UPDATE: Nir Barkat wins Jerusalem

Once again the Israeli municipal elections have produced a very low turnout. Only 55% of eligible voters cast their ballots. That’s lower than in previous years, and much lower than the first few decades of the country’s history. That means only half of eligible voters voted, and the rest of the country didn’t.

Why is voter turnout so low? Polls open at 7AM and close at 10PM. Ample time to get out of bed, do yoga, make breakfast for the kids, take them to school, get through traffic to work, work all day, pick up the kids from school, take them to art, dance, karate class, go home make them dinner, pick them up from gymnastics, feed them, finish paperwork you didn’t get to at the office, and then go vote. Continue reading →