Chairman of the Central Election Committee, Supreme Court Justice Hanan Melcer, met on Sunday with Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and State Attorney Shai Nitzan to discuss the various legal aspects of the upcoming general election in an effort to prevent the inappropriate use of online social media sites to influence the outcome.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri, Central Election Committee Director Orly Ades and other senior Justice Ministry officials.
Melcer asked Mendelblit to help expedite and streamline the handling of complaints that will be submitted to the Central Election Committee pertaining to suspicions of criminal violations of voting laws.
The attendees also discussed the matter of cybersecurity. Central Election Committee representatives laid out the efforts they and the Israel National Cyber Directorate were making to prevent voter fraud and other related violations.
According to Ades, the committee's members were "aware that social media sites could be used inappropriately to influence the voting public. It's important to remember that voting and vote counting processes in Israel are done manually. These processes are independent [of one another], monitored, and are predominantly not computerized. Therefore there isn't a high probability they can be disrupted. In the very few areas where these processes are computerized and cybersecurity enhancements are needed, the committee is being assisted by various security elements and experts working on its behalf to prepare accordingly."
The attendees declined to offer any official details about the specific preparations being implemented.
The Central Election Committee said in a statement that the meeting focused on "the new challenges facing the country during the current election period, and the existing tools possessed by the authorities to contend with them to ensure the integrity of the election and protect the democratic process."
