Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled Thursday that party representatives at polling stations may not digitally count voters and transmit those figures to their parties in real time, even when the information contains no names or identifying details.

The decision expands an earlier prohibition on transmitting information identifying which voters have cast ballots, further restricting parties’ ability to monitor turnout and direct their Election Day mobilization efforts.

Justices Khaled Kabub and Ruth Ronen supported the ruling, accepting a petition filed by the Israel Democracy Guard organization. Justice David Mintz dissented.

The case follows the earlier “Elector” dispute, in which the court prohibited parties from receiving live information identifying individual voters who had arrived at polling stations.

Thursday’s ruling extends the restriction to numerical turnout information collected digitally by party representatives at individual polling stations.

The decision contradicts an earlier clarification issued by Central Elections Committee acting director-general Dean Livne in response to a Likud inquiry.

Livne had said party representatives could use smartphones and other digital devices to count voters and relay totals to their parties, provided they did not transmit information that could identify the voters themselves.

The court’s majority rejected that distinction.

Under the ruling, polling committee members and observers representing factions or candidate lists may not “count during Election Day, using digital means, the number of voters who actually voted at a particular polling station, and transmit this information in real time to the party or list on whose behalf they serve.”

Kabub and Ronen made the relevant portion of the court’s conditional order absolute, over Mintz’s opposition.

The ruling followed written submissions and oral arguments from the parties. The court released its operative decision Thursday and said the justices’ detailed reasoning would follow.

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