Under the new system, voters would not only choose the party but also be able to influence its list of MKs in the Knesset.
National Unity leader MK Benny Gantz submitted a new bill according to which, starting with the upcoming Knesset elections, there will be a dramatic change in the electoral system.
According to the proposal, voters will be able not only to vote for which party they want to elect, but also which MKs they want and in what order.
The explanatory notes to the law state that, "According to the existing law, the voting method used in Israel is for lists of candidates and nothing else - a closed-list method. The name of the list and its letter appear on the ballot, and sometimes also the name of its leader. In this situation, the voters, when they come to the polls, have no possibility to influence the composition of the contending lists."
The bill also states: "The trend in recent decades has also been to move to these methods, for example in Croatia (in 2015). This method is sometimes called 'election day primaries,' and the specific method we propose to adopt in Israel is known in the literature as 'semi-open ballot' or 'list method.' The bill is intended to change the structure of the ballot in Israel among lists that wish to do so, but to allow lists that do not wish to keep the old ballot, in view of the possible difficulty of the public and especially the political system to adapt to the change."
"The new ballot, which will specify the names and order of the candidates, will give the voters two choices: one, to vote for the list of candidates that appears on the ballot, that is, to confirm the order of the candidates as provided to the Central Election Commission (similar to the method used today but with greater transparency, since the names of the candidates will appear on the ballot) and the second is to vote for up to five candidates from among the candidates appearing on the list."
"Candidates who will receive many votes according to the current proposal - half of the number of votes needed to receive one mandate during the initial distribution of mandates, will move to the top of the list. This excludes party leaders, whose spot will be protected, but who will not be available for the voter to choose."
Source - Israel National News/Twitter - Erik Marmor/Flash90