High Court dismisses petition by expatriates seeking to vote in upcoming election

Israel's High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition by approximately 100 expatriate Israelis seeking to vote in the October 27 election. The petitioners challenged their exclusion from voter rolls due to an Interior Ministry classification, "Code 51," which designates them as non-residents. They argued they never requested this status change and questioned its legality.

• The court dismissed the petition on procedural grounds, citing its late filing—a week before the voter registry finalization—and the petitioners' failure to utilize the statutory appeals process first.
• Justice Yechiel Kasher also noted the petition lacked a detailed factual record for each petitioner's Code 51 designation.
• The Interior Ministry stated Code 51 is applied when citizens inform officials they are leaving Israel and request non-resident status, a claim disputed by the petitioners.
• One petitioner, Ilana Mittman, discovered her residency status changed in 1986 when registering her newborn son, recalling, "I felt I gave a part of myself away when that happened. But I didn't know that my biggest right as a citizen – the right to vote – was just robbed from me."

The court did not rule on the challenge to the law tying voting eligibility to residency, suggesting it could be raised again post-election.