Report by Shuchi Giridhar
The Israeli government is a parliamentary democracy.
Each party has to submit a list of all their candidates to the Central Election Committee.
From there, a certain number of seats of the Knesset is awarded to each party.
In Israel, rather than voting for individuals the citizens vote for a party. So, they select the candidates to be given the seats according to the list.
So, if there are 4 seats awarded to a party of 10, then the first four candidates on the list are given the seats. But it is not the party that wins the most votes that produces the Prime Minister. The Ruling party is rather chosen by the capability it has to run a government and coalition. And the first candidate on the list is chosen as prime minister.
Anyone over the age of 21 can run, and they may be disqualified if they resort to unfair means.
How do people vote and who can vote?
Anyone over the age of 18 may vote for their party of choice. The voting process is very easy. It also does not require much travel as Israel is quite a small country and has more than 11,000 polling stations to cast votes.
Moreover, election day is a Nationwide holiday.
Voting is as simple as crossing the road. All it requires you to do is take small piece of paper, write 2 to 3 symbols, letters, or numbers that represent the party that you vote for, put it into a small envelope and drop it off at the polling station.
