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Exit polls show center-left bloc winning 62-66 seats
By Haaretz Staff
Exit polls released as polling stations closed at 10 P.M. Tuesday showed center-left parties gaining a total of between 62 and 66 seats, with Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima winning 29 to 32 seats, Labor 20-22 seats, Meretz five and the Arab parties seven to eight seats.
The Likud, which had hoped to block a center-left coalition, won 11 to 12 seats in the poll, far below the figures the party had hoped and a far cry from the 38 seats it won under Ariel Sharon in 2003.
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The results, if accurate, could mean that the Likud would become Israel's fourth largest party, with the Russian immigrant-dominated Yisrael Beiteinu becoming the third largest list in the 120-seat house with 12 to 14 seats.
In the largest surprise of the night, the Pensioners party was seen to win six to eight seats.
The Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas won 10-11 seats in the exit polls, meaning it could have the same strength as the Likud.
The polls also showed the right-wing National Union-NRP taking eight to nine seats and the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism five to six seats.
Low turnout vexes large parties
The three largest parties had been under mounting pressure as polls neared closing time, fearing that the lowest voter turnout in Israeli electoral history may sap their strength in the next Knesset.
A low turnout had been expected to work in favor of smaller, ideology-driven parties, especially those of the right. It may also enable such issue-based factions as the Pensioners party to enter the Knesset for the first time.
By 8 P.M., voter turnout was running some five percentage points behind that of the 2003 elections. Election officials said only 57 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots by 6 P.M., compared to nearly 62.8 percent at that hour in 2003.
Kadima, which analysts have said stands to be hit the hardest by low turnout, sent out hundreds of thousands of SMS messages, urging citizens to go to the polls before they closed at 10 P.M. The party also sent activists to aid Russian immigrant voters in distinguishing between Kadima's ballot symbol and the similar symbol of the pro-marijuana legalization Green Leaf party.
Polling stations opened at 7 A.M. 5,014,622 voters are registered to participate in the elections. After the 8,280 polling stations across the country close, the three main TV stations will release exit polls.
Just 9.9 percent of Israel's registered voters had cast their ballots by 10 A.M. and the trend continued as the day wore on. By noon, just 21.7 percent of voters had cast their ballots - the lowest turnout in Israeli history. At 2 P.M., only 30.9 percent of voters had turned out compared to 35.3 percent in 2003, and by 4 P.M. 39 percent of eligible voters had cast ballots, compared to 44.2 percent in 2003.
By 6 P.M., 47 percent of voters had cast their ballots versus 52.8 percent in 2003.
Voter turnout in the Arab and Druze sectors was also low. By mid-day, only 11 percent of voters had cast their ballots in the northern Israeli Arab town of Shfaram, 1.5 percent in the Druze town Daliat al-Carmel and in Haifa, only 7.5 percent of Arabs had turned out to vote.
The total expected voter turnout is some 66 percent - around two percent lower than the rate in the 2003 elections, the lowest turnout in Israeli election history. The prevailing assessment is that low turnout will work to the detriment of Kadima and Labor.
Although Kadima has scored well in the polls - Monday's survey predicted it would win 36 seats - the combination of complacency and undecided votes leave room for Election Day surprises.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his wife Aliza cast their ballots near their Jerusalem home early Tuesday. "Go and vote too," said Olmert wishing "a good day for the citizens of Israel."
The Shin Bet domestic security service used strict security arrangements, checking all those present at the polling station for explosives, including the members of the ballot committee.
The acting prime minister came to vote as soon as the station opened at 7:00 A.M. in order for the security arrangements not to delay to voting procedure for other voters.
Kadima's no. 2 Shimon Peres voted at a polling station in Ramat Aviv and also called on the citizens to come and vote.
Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz and his wife Ahlama voted around 10 A.M. in his hometown of Sderot.
Israel Defense Forces and police were on high alert, with thousands of police officers and Border Police troops deployed throughout the country, particularly in Jerusalem and along the seam line boundary with the West Bank. The border crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip have been closed and there is a tightened closure on the West Bank.
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Source-Haaretz Dailyhttp://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/699377.html
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