How it works
The machinery of an Israeli election, from the ballot slip to a sworn-in government.
The election on one page
1How Israelis vote
38 lists on the ballot, one paper slip each. 13 pass the 3.25% threshold in the polling average; the rest, dashed, poll below it or are not polled.
2From votes to seats
The 120 seats are shared in proportion among the lists that pass. A government needs the Knesset's confidence, and 61 is a majority.
3Forming a government
Up to 117 days from the official results: 28 days for the first nominee, up to 14 more, 28 for a second, then 21 for the Knesset to name someone. If all fail, a new election.
4Who votes, and who doesn't
Who can vote in which election Status Knesset Municipal Israeli citizen Can vote Can vote Israeli permanent resident, without citizenship Cannot vote Can vote Israeli citizen in a West Bank settlement Can vote Depends on status Palestinian resident without Israeli citizenship or permanent residency Cannot vote Cannot vote Citizenship decides the Knesset vote: solid can vote, hatched cannot, grey depends on the person's status.
Seats: the current polling average. Slips: the Central Elections Committee's published roster. Clock: Basic Law: The Government, articles 7 to 10. Voting rights: the sources on each guide.
From votes to seats
How Israel turns national votes into 120 Knesset seats: closed party lists, the 3.25% threshold, the Bader-Ofer count and surplus-vote agreements.
Forming a government
What happens between election night and a sworn-in government: the president's mandate, the legal deadlines, the confidence vote, and what 2019–2022 showed.
How Israelis vote
Who can vote, how a paper ballot is cast, why nearly one vote in ten comes in a double envelope, and how election night turns into a final count.
Who votes, and who doesn't
Citizenship, not residence, decides the Knesset vote. Who holds it, who does not, the Palestinian elections, and the legal findings about the gap.
Vote map
How each locality voted, 2019–2022, list by list.