Elections to the Twenty-Sixth Knesset Law (Special Provisions and Legislative Amendments), 5786-2026

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The law sets special provisions for the twenty-sixth Knesset elections, held against the backdrop of an exceptional security situation. Evacuee voting: citizens evacuated from their homes due to the security situation who have not yet returned to live in them will be defined as "evacuees". Evacuees may vote in two ways: 1. at dedicated polling stations established for them; 2. at any polling station designated for voters with limited mobility. To determine the locations of the dedicated stations, public bodies (the government, ministries, local authorities, and corporations) will provide the Central Elections Committee with statistical information on the number of evacuees in their area. This information will be used to set the station locations and will be deleted around the publication of the election results. Voting at these stations will use an outer envelope, after the evacuee declares being an evacuee; a false declaration of being an evacuee is a criminal offense. Employment of public-body workers in election committees: public bodies (the government, ministries, the Knesset, local authorities, and corporations) may not prevent employees asked by the Central Elections Committee or a regional committee from being mobilized to work in the election committees for the purpose of holding the elections; if an employee agrees, the body may not prevent their employment. An employee's absence for work in an election committee is not considered a break in employment and does not harm seniority-dependent rights. For Knesset employees, if no agreement is reached between the Knesset Speaker and the committee's director general on employing the worker, the worker will not be employed by the election committee. Tender engagements: the Central Elections Committee will be exempt from the tender obligation in certain cases, for example when contracting a supplier that won a government-ministry tender, provided the engagement is needed for evacuee voting or on grounds of urgency; engagements above 5.2 million new shekels require the approval of the Central Committee's exemptions committee. The Central Elections Committee chair may set special provisions on deadlines and publication methods in tenders. Holding committee meetings: election committees may hold meetings by videoconference if the committee chair so directs (unless a quarter of the committee's members object), or if all committee members agree; a discussion of a particular request may be approved for videoconference, and participation in such a discussion may also be refused. Striking candidates: the Central Elections Committee chair may order a candidate's name struck from a candidate list upon finding that the candidate is unfit to run under certain sections of the law, or if the candidate list was corrected in a way that cannot be corrected under another section. Digital election propaganda: from the day the law is published and for one year, a new temporary provision applies to election propaganda created or substantially edited by digital means that includes content that could appear as if originally filmed (such as showing a person or an event). The publisher of such propaganda must attach a clear and conspicuous disclosure telling the public the content was not originally filmed.