Yesterday the proposal was brought to vote in the Knesset and it passed its first reading with 20 MKs in favor and 1 MK opposed - it seems like a lot of MKs were absent yesterday during the voting on this bill. The bill now goes back to committee and will be prepared for its second and final readings.
The new law would make it a national holiday, meaning employees would have a paid vacation day. The Minister of Interior will decide on the operation of public services and public transportation on the day of municipal elections.
Some MKs spoke in favor of the bill, mostly pointing to the low voter turnout and saying that making it a vacation day would encourage more people to vote... MK Nissim Zeev (Shas) argued against the bill saying that going to vote is not a big deal, does not take much time, and turning it into a vacation day is a waste of a day - Zeev said "how long does it take to go from home to the ballot station? 10 minutes? It takes longer to bring a sick person in an ambulance to the hospital than to bring a voter to the ballot station!"
source: Ladaat
Zeev is correct, and I personally do not understand why so many people cant make a minimal effort to go vote. People should make more of an effort.
What Zeev does not understand is that people who are out all day working, and then go to vote when they return home from work at the end of the day, all go to vote, if they go, and find long lines - by then they are tired, worn out, frustrated, and often give up. Some of them don't even bother going, knowing that it will be a long line, and say its just not worth going.
Either way, the proposal is now one step closer to becoming official law! There is still no word from the Supreme Court announcing a decision regarding the Bet Shemesh elections, but if they decide to uphold the lower courts decision, we in Bet Shemesh have a chance of being the first to benefit from this law!
------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel
------------------------------------------------------
Why not just do what many states do and offer paid hours to vote. In NJ you can get two paid hours to go vote. That way you don't waste your whole day.
ReplyDeleteThat would require being ingenious. This is another bad law from the amateurs in the Knesset. A whole day off is something employers should not have to pay for.
DeleteMK Nissim Zeev (Shas) argued against the bill saying that going to vote is not a big deal, does not take much time
ReplyDeleteOf course, Shas does not wan this bill, many of the haredi voters (e.g. in Beit Shemesh) do not work at all (instead being supported by public funds), so they enjoy an advantage over the people who have to drive halfway across the country every day to work.