Let’s Have a Backup Vote for Israeli Elections

As an Israeli, I do not get to vote for a candidate, only for a list of candidates. And I don’t get to vote (as apparently happens in some countries) for the individuals on the list. They are elected in order. The total votes in the country are counted and divided by 120, and that is how many votes it takes to elect an MK. But there is a catch. If a list does not “cross the threshold” — get enough votes to elect four MKS — they get zero instead, and those votes are thrown away.

What that means is that a majority of voters might prefer the ins, but if enough of them vote for lists that don’t cross the threshold, the majority of votes that actually elect MKs go to the outs. There ends up being a huge amount of wheeling and dealing, not to mention strange campaigns to push some tiny list over or under the threshold so your side can win.

The parties that expect to cross the threshold can sign agreements, so the “remainders” at this point can go either to them or to someone compatible with them. But we individual voters have no say in that.

I have a system that would give voters more say: You get one vote, but you also get a backup vote in case your first choice doesn’t cross the threshold. It could be folded in half and put in a pocket on the inside back of the voting envelope so it’s only counted if your first vote doesn’t count.

Example 1: I cast my vote for (say) The Haredi Public. They don’t cross the threshold, so my vote is thrown away. But I have a backup vote, for Shas, which I know will cross the threshold, and my backup is counted instead. My second choice got in!

Example 2: I vote for Balad, but I don’t think any of the other parties are worth jack. If Balad crosses the threshold, fine. If they don’t, my vote is thrown away — but that was my choice.

Example 3: I cast my vote for the Original Pirate Party, and my backup vote for the Official Pirate Party. Neither of them crosses the threshold, and my vote is thrown away, but again, that was my own choice. It’s not that hard to find a party that you know WILL cross the threshold.

Example 4: I cast my vote for the Likud. But I’m new around here, so I’m afraid they won’t pass the threshold, and I cast a backup vote for Gadi Ashkenazi. My vote is certainly going to count, so my backup vote is ignored.

No votes would be thrown away against the voter’s wishes — and the actual results would track much more closely with what a majority of the voters want, unlike now, when there is a random chance that one bloc gets a majority even though the voters wanted the other one. It seems like the small parties would want this, and that enough of the big parties might also find it welcome that it could pass. We can hope!