Electoral College in Yisrael
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The Electoral College in Yisrael is a body of electors established by the 1952 Royal Reform Acts, constituted every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president of the Kingdom of Yisrael. The Electoral College consists of 192 electors, and an absolute majority of 97 electoral votes is required to win the election.
Each District legislature decides the method by which its electors are selected. In contrast to other electoral college systems abroad, Yisraeli law binds the electors to the winner of their District and thus avoids the problem of faithless electors. All eight Districts allocate their full cachet of Electoral Votes to the winner of the plurality majority of votes cast in the presidential election inside their jurisdiction. Within seven days after the final votes have been tabulated, each District's electors assemble in their District capitals and vote as pledged.
History
Electoral reform
In the aftermath of the horrific Year of Blood, political leaders in the short-lived interim Provisional Government of Yisrael and the early restored Kingdom of Yisrael sought to quash the populist appeal of extremist parties and figures that led to the rise of the Autocracy and the wildfire-spread of leftist thought among the lower strata. The victorious Constitutionalists were upper-middle-income men of the professions, and aimed to narrow the spectrum of political discourse to the moderate liberalism of their social strata. Not particularly religious, this clique largely hailed from the Masorti sector.
The Provisional Governing Council under Asher Berkowitz started putting together electoral reform proposals as the country voted in the March 3, 1952 national referendum that affirmed Berkowitz, then-acting Prime Minister from the pre-Autocracy order, into the newly created head of government office of President of Yisrael to replace the defunct Prime Ministership, which had irretrievably atrophied under the Azoulay era.
In the summer 1952, the restored Royal Knesset introduced a number of reform bills that would take effect at the next presidential election - Shevat 1 in 1956. Among these included abandoning first-past-the-post voting for proportional representation, a concept of fusion voting, a national jungle primary followed by a "top-two" instant runoff, stiff ballot access requirements, among other ideas. Joshua Green, a young Member of Knesset (CL-Beersheva), suggested an electoral college, studying how papal conclaves worked in the Fabrian Catholic Church.
Southern compromise
Since 1956
Distribution of Electoral Votes by District
| District | Population | Knesset Seats | Extra EVs | Final Electoral Vote Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern District | 454,098 | 3 | 10 | 13 |
| Dervaylik District | 1,302,885 | 9 | 10 | 19 |
| Central District | 6,874,231 | 48 | N/A | 48 |
| Western District | 5,412,976 | 38 | N/A | 38 |
| Southern District | 881,935 | 6 | 10 | 16 |
| Yerushalayim District | 1,431,566 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Eastern District | 3,483,677 | 24 | N/A | 24 |
| Yarden Valley Special District | 632,713 | 4 | 10 | 14 |
Two-party presidential system
As part of the the series of electoral reforms rolled out in the 1952 Royal Reform Acts to restrict extremist parties from re-entering Yisraeli political life, the Royal Knesset legalized fusion voting, whereby minor parties could cross-endorse the major parties' presidential nominees.
The effect of this measure was that second- and third-tier left-wing, right-wing, and centrist parties with representation in the Knesset could pool their votes towards one of the "first-tier" parties - either the Constitutional Liberal Party or the Royalist Conservatives. This created a de facto two-party system in presidential politics.
Elections since 2004
Electoral College results
Third-party impact
A list of second- and third-tier parties and their cross-endorsements and electoral impact since 2004:
| Party Name / Political Position | Cross-endorsement? | Major-Party Endorsed | District(s) Where Third-Party Contributed 5%+ Of the Vote To Major-Party | Current Knesset Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
(Center-to-Center-right) |
2020: Yes 2016: Yes 2012: Yes1 |
2020: Alternative for Yisrael 2016: Royalist Conservative Party 2012: Constitutional Liberal Party |
2020: Central, Eastern, Western, Dervaylik, Southern 2016: Central, Eastern, Western, Yerushalayim, Dervaylik, Southern 2012: Central, Dervaylik, Western, Eastern |
|
(Left-wing) |
2020: Yes 2016: Yes 2012: Yes2 2008: Yes2 2004: Yes2 |
2020: Constitutional Liberal Party 2016: Constitutional Liberal Party 2012: Constitutional Liberal Party 2008: Constitutional Liberal Party 2004: Constitutional Liberal Party |
2016: Central, Dervaylik 2012: Central, Dervaylik, Southern 2008: Central, Dervaylik, Western, Eastern 2004: Central, Dervaylik, Western, Eastern, Southern |
|
(Right-to-Far-right) |
2020: Yes 2016: Yes 2012: Yes 2008: No3 |
2020: Royalist Conservative Party 2016: Royalist Conservative Party 2012: Royalist Conservative Party 2008: None |
2020: Northern, Yarden Valley, Yerushalayim, Eastern, Western 2016: Northern, Yarden Valley, Yerushalayim, Eastern, Western 2012: Northern, Yarden Valley, Eastern 2008: N/A |
|
(Right-wing) |
2004: Yes4 |
2004: Royalist Conservative Party |
2004: Northern, Yarden Valley, Eastern |
(Party no longer in existence) |
(Right-wing) |
2020: Yes 2016: Yes 2012: Yes5 2008: No5 2004: No5 |
2020: Royalist Conservative Party 2016: Royalist Conservative Party 2012: Royalist Conservative Party 2008: None 2004: None |
2016: Yerushalayim, Yarden Valley, Central, Western, Eastern 2012: Yerushalayim, Yarden Valley, Central, Western, Eastern 2008: N/A 2004: N/A |
|
(Center-to-Center-left) |
2008: Yes 2004: Yes |
2008: Constitutional Liberal Party 2004: Constitutional Liberal Party |
2008: Northern, Yarden Valley, Eastern, Western, Yerushalayim 2004: Northern, Yarden Valley, Eastern, Western, Yerushalayim |
(Party no longer in existence) |
Notes
1. Action Yisrael was founded on May 24th, 2009.
2. The Alliance of Greens, Seculars, and Workers formed after the 2012 general election from the Yisraeli Labor Party and Green Party; however, cross-endorsements prior to 2012 are grouped together as both the YLP and GP cross-endorsed the same major party in these years.
3. The Northern League was moribund from the late 1980s until 2006, winning no seats in the Knesset and polling at less than 1% nationally and less than 10% in the Northern and Yarden Valley Special Districts. After the 2006 elections, David Touro won its leadership contest and rebuilt the party, entering Knesset in the 2008 elections as well as winning 5% of the national vote. However, neither party thought much of the League's rebranding and did not believe it would enter the political scene as a viable third-party. However, after its increasing gains in 2008 and 2010, the party was courted by both major parties. Touro eventually sided with Noah Feldman and the Conservatives.
4. The National Union Party merged with the Royalist Conservatives in 2006. The Northern League is thought to have picked up part of its political base with the League's rebuilding in 2006 and 2008.
5. Until the 1990s, the Torah Achdus party was a transactional swing bloc whose votes were chased by both major parties. Although ideologically right-wing, the party's leadership prioritized state benefit and services procurement over ideology, and would align with whichever party would offer more benefits to the Chareidi community. A new, younger generation took the reins starting in the '90s and starting to trend towards the Conservatives, though the elder party statesmen still favored the party's longtime transactional electoral posture. These forces controlled the party executive committee (which issues endorsements) and cut a deal with Eitan Herzog and the Con-Libs to not endorse at all (otherwise the party faithful would demand a cross-endorsement of the Conservatives) in return for stronger kollel subsidies to Chareidi yeshivos and other benefits. However, this faction was ousted after the party lost ground in the 2008 election in the Knesset and District and local governments. A new Conservative-allied faction, the "New Chareidi," took control of the party leadership and began to cross-endorse the Conservatives since 2012.
6. The Yisraeli Christian Association was found to have illegal ties to anti-Yisrael terrorist groups the Christian Defense League and the Free Yarden Valley Catholic Front in the aftermath of the 2011 Yericho riots. Its MKs were arrested by the YeMep and the party banned under the Domestic Subversive Organizations Act before the 2012 elections.
Criticism
See also
- Government of Yisrael
- Presidency of Yisrael
- Politics of Yisrael
- Party divisions of the Yisraeli Knesset
