Around 300,000 votes go to parties that missed Israel's electoral threshold

Two Israeli news outlets reported that roughly 300,000 votes cast in Israel's general election went to parties that did not clear the electoral threshold, and so will not translate into any seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Ynet put the figure at more than 300,000 votes, while the N12 news channel, citing its political correspondent Dafna Liel, described it as about 300,000.

The largest single block of these lost votes belonged to a list of military reservists running together with an economics-focused party, which N12 reported received more than 150,000 votes. N12 said a party called Amcha Yisrael drew about 95,000 votes, and that a small ultra-Orthodox list won about 10,600. Ynet also reported that a widely held expectation, that the bloc of parties around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose many seats as a result of wasted votes, did not materialise.

What the electoral threshold is

Israel elects its parliament through nationwide proportional representation. Voters choose a party list rather than an individual candidate, and seats are shared out according to each list's share of the national vote. To enter the Knesset at all, a list must win a minimum share of valid votes, known as the electoral threshold. Ballots cast for lists that fall below that line are set aside, and the seats are divided among the parties that passed it.

In Hebrew political commentary, these ballots are often called "burned" votes, the word N12 used. Ynet described them as "wasted". Because the discarded votes effectively raise the weight of every vote cast for a successful party, the question of which political camp loses the most to failed lists can shift the balance between rival blocs. That is the backdrop to Ynet's observation about the Netanyahu bloc.

The parties left outside

The two reports name several lists that failed to pass:

• The reservists and economic list. N12 refers to the reservists (HaMiluimnikim) and an economic party together, with more than 150,000 votes. Ynet presents them as a single joint list and said it drew support from parties in the opposing "change bloc" as well, not only from the right.
• Amcha Yisrael. About 95,000 votes, according to N12.
• The Haredi Public Party. A list aimed at ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) voters, which N12 said received about 10,600 votes, roughly 700 fewer than a party called Tzeva Shahor.
• Lists linked to Winter and Maoz. Ynet, using surnames only, said parties associated with Winter and with Maoz, together with the two small ultra-Orthodox parties, won fewer votes combined than the reservists' joint list.

A former deputy minister trails smaller lists

Ynet singled out the result of Sharren Haskel, whom it identified as a former deputy minister. According to the outlet, several lists finished ahead of her, including ones it named as Sharsher and the Pirates. The report presented this as a notable outcome, given her previous position in government, but the summary available does not give her vote total or say which party she headed.

Where the two reports differ

The outlets agree on the broad picture but not on the exact headline figure. Ynet says more than 300,000 votes were lost, while N12 says about 300,000. Neither report presented in the material cites final certified results from the Central Elections Committee, the body that runs Israeli elections, so both figures should be read as early tallies reported by the media.

The two reports also describe the reservists' list slightly differently. N12 names the reservists and the economic party side by side, while Ynet hyphenates them as one joint list.

What the reports do not say

Neither report gives the share of the national vote each failed list received, or how close any of them came to the threshold. They do not state how many seats the wasted votes would have represented, or how the final seat count divides between the Netanyahu bloc and its opponents. Ynet's statement that the bloc did not lose many seats is not accompanied by figures in the material available.

The reports also do not give vote totals for the lists linked to Winter and Maoz, for Sharsher, for the Pirates or for Sharren Haskel, and they do not identify the second small ultra-Orthodox party mentioned by Ynet. Whether the counts cited are final, or could change as remaining ballots are tallied, is not stated.