While it is not yet known who the new mayor of Jerusalem is, what is known is the chareidi parties have significant power in the new administration.

Along with the uncertainty, it is possible to learn about the composition of the council being formulated. According to the data so far, without the votes of the soldiers, 17 of the 31 members of the Council will be from the chareidi factions and the chardal (chareidi dati leumi) list headed by Aryeh King, while the chareidi population of the city’s Jewish population stands at 33%. Two representatives from Bayit Yehudi, two from Elkin’s list and one from the Likud list, and from the left-liberal center of the map, the Hisorarus faction is expected to win six seats, Meretz two, and Yossi Chavilov 1.

Many lists who competed but they were unsuccessful and will not enter the council. The director of the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Studies, Lior Shilat, referred to the increase in “wasted” votes, while in the previous elections the number of votes wasted – almost all from the non-chareidi side – stood at 7,000, this time around that number is estimated to be around 21,000, from the non-chareidi factions that did not succeed.”

[ISRAEL ELECTIONS: Jerusalem Mayoral Race Heading to Runoff, Results From Around The Country]

With the chardal Meuchadim list of Aryeh King and Yonatan Yosef, the chareidim maintain a majority on the city council. The final voter turnout for Jerusalem in the election is expected to be 39%, slightly higher than in the previous election in 2013. There were high number regarding voter turnout in the chareidi neighborhoods of Yerushalayim, like Ramat Shlomo with 82.7%, Sanhedria 74.9% and Har Nof with 70.2%.

There was an increase in voter turnout in secular and mixed neighborhoods in the capital as compared to the last election. For example, there was a 54% turnout as compared to 48% in the last election in Gilo. In Kiryat Yovel, voter turnout was 56.3% as compared to 47% last time and in Pisgat Ze’ev, 57.4% as compared to 53%. Nachlaot should an increase too, from 44% to 49.2%. voting in the predominately Arab areas of the eastern capital remained at almost zero.

Shilat explains that the rise in voter turnout in the city is not expected to be high, since “from the outset there is a very high level of political awareness in Jerusalem and the percentage of voters among Jews is very high.”

He notes that even in the neighborhoods of the more traditional public, and so on, there is also an increase in voter turnout.

In addition, Shilat notes that although 638,000 are registered with the right to vote in the city, and there are a large number of residents over the age of 17 who live in the city but this includes many foreigners. “This includes nonresidents, which is very significant in Jerusalem, unlike other cities, and many people are registered in the city but live abroad or out of town” he concluded.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)