Stuffing the Ballot Box

I didn't find this on the net, but I definitely heard it on the TV news:

During the Labor Primary elections, "problems" in the Arab sectors. "Vote early; vote often," as the saying goes. This is consistent with the stories I've heard from people who were supposed to be the election poll supervisors or "observers" in Arab villages and neighborhoods. There's a very efficient machine there guaranteeing that names are checked off and ballots put in the box. No one dares mess with the "bosses."

Israel, as you can see in the picture, has a simple and "primitive" voting method, and the counting is by "hand."

• a table is set up with a box, signed (by election local officials) envelopes and check-lists of registered voters for all the officials and observers
• a voter comes in and is approved
• and the officials and observers mark the name on their lists
• periodically, party activists check with their observers to see who still hasn't voted, and they keep ferrying the voters to the polls
• the voter is given a signed envelope
• the voter goes into a "booth" where there's a tray of "ballot slips"
• the voter takes the desired ballot slip and puts it in his/her envelope
• then he exits the booth and puts the envelope into the box
• when the polls close the box is opened
• the envelopes are counted and the total compared with the voters who voted
• if the numbers don't match, recount
• in some cases, if there are too many envelopes the easiest solution is just checking more names, until they reach the "right number" of course it's illegal, but it does happen
• then each envelope is opened if there are two ballots in the envelope, one is thrown out, but if there are three or more, the envelope is "invalid"
• then the counting begins, yes by hand and out loud
• one reads the ballot and the rest, "keep track"
• then again, it's all added up and must match, including invalidated ballots

And one more thing about yesterday's elections....

If I remember the news item correctly, Ehud Barak did well in those problematic Arab villages.