Facts about parliamentary elections

Israeli polls takes place today at 8,280 polling stations which will begin at 7am and end at 10pm. The following are the facts about the parliamentary elections:

• Each voter casts a ballot for one of 31 party lists standing for the 120-member parliament, rather than for an individual candidate. Opinion polls show only 12 to 13 parties have a chance of winning places.
• Israel has 4.5 million eligible voters in a population of about 6.8 million. Voting at 8,280 polling stations will begin at 7am and end at 10pm.
• Results of exit polls will be televised at 10pm (2000 GMT) and near-final results should be available early tomorrow morning.
• Elections are supposed to take place every four years, unless an early ballot is called.
• A party must receive at least 2 per cent of the ballots cast, a maximum of about 90,000 votes, to meet the threshold for entry into the Knesset.
• Some commentators predict weaker turnout than usual, owing to opinion polls suggesting that victory by interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's centrist Kadima party is a foregone conclusion. On average, turnout is about 80 per cent.
• No one party is expected to win enough votes for a parliamentary majority. Israel has always been ruled by coalition governments.
• Official results must be published in the state gazette within 14 days of the vote. President Moshe Katsav will then have a week to assign one of the newly elected members of parliament the task of forming a government.
• That person, usually the leader of the party that garnered the most seats in the election, will have 28 days to form a government. That period may be extended for up to 14 days.