According to the numbers gathered from the last municipal elections almost five years ago, there has been a downward voting trend since the 1080s. In today’s election, there will be 553,668 Israelis who may vote for the first time. The question remains is just how many of them will decide to exercise this right.

Following are some of the voting numbers furnished by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of the Interior and the Israel Democratic Institute:

· In elections in 1998 voter turnout was 57.4%.

· In 2003 voter turnout was 49.3%.

· In the 2008 election, voter turnout was 51.9% in the general population but the Arab sector reported 89%

According to Ben-Gurion University’s Prof. Yossi Yonah, the numbers are disturbing and should be viewed as worrisome for he explains most voters fail to understand that a mayor has more authority than a MK or cabinet minister. He feels if voters truly understood this, they would get out and vote. He believes if voters understood just how much a mayor can impact their daily quality of life most eligible voters would exercise this right but this does not appear to be the case today.

Yonah feels the biggest cause for apathy is the belief that all elected officials are corrupt and since a voter feels powerless to effect change, s/he prefers not to vote. Prof. Yonah feels for as long as residents see an improvement in their lives, new classrooms, shopping centers and the like, they are willing to turn a blind eye to government corruption for they are too busy with their private lives.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)