Itongadol.- In an election that is expected to attract the highest voter turnout since 1999 voter turnout as of 2 p.m. 36.7 percent the Central Elections Committee said on Tuesday. The number represents a slight drop from the voter turnout in the 2013 election when at the same time then voter turnout was 38.3%.
At noon on Tuesday was 26.5% the Central Elections Committee reported. The figure was similar to the turnout percentage in the 2013 election at the same time.
At 10 a.m. on Tuesday voter turnout was 13.7% representing 757,880 voters in 9,100 polling stations and was 2.7% higher compared to the same time in the 2013 election, the Israel Elections Authority said.
As of 11 a.m. 10% of Israeli Arabs voted as opposed to only 3% at this time in the last election, according to the Arab Joint List party.
Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said Tuesday the high voter turnout rate was "good for the nation and good for Israel."
Nearly six million voters will be eligible to cast ballots in more than 10,000 polling stations across the country Tuesday.
Until that race, voter turnouts regularly approached 80 percent.
Since then, they have not hit 70%. But the closeness of the race – combined with boosted resources aimed at getting out the vote – are expected to significantly increase turnout.
Exit polls will be broadcast at 10 p.m. Tuesday on the three television networks, but official results will not be presented to President Reuven Rivlin until March 25. Formal consultations on forming a new government will begin next week, but Rivlin will receive calls before then in an effort to build a stable coalition as soon as possible.