An Israeli woman walks next to campaign posters of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Tel-Aviv

By Mohamed Ahmed, IOL Staff

CAIRO, January 10 (IslamOnline) - In the countdown to Israel's general elections due on January 28, the central election committee is working hard to be ready for the Israeli election, an event which would witness a voting system change this time.

The ballot boxes, the electorate list and the voting measures, all are due to be secured on time. And the competing parties began naming out their observers and committee chairmen to represent them in the elections.

But why the elections' time are fixed on January 28 is still a question for some.

Under the Israeli constitution, the elections should be held after the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) is dissolved and the resignation of the country's government tendered within 90 days' time, a step that should ensued by a governmental advertisement.

The ad had already showed up on May 5, 2002, which means that polls should be held on the last Tuesday preceding the 90-days' timeframe, which happened to be on January 28.

New Voting System

In the January 28 elections, the Israeli election system would be back to an old way in which one voting card for every party competing on the Knesset membership would be chosen by the voter.

The old system stipulates two cards, one to decide joining up the Knesset and the other to the government premiership. The voter will ballot by one card carrying the slogan of the party he choose to back up.

After the elections, votes would be sorted out according to parties' share of the number of supporting voters. The winning party would be entrusted with forming the new government.

The Israeli law entitles every citizen over 18 to be enlisted in the electoral register. The number of the voters expected to show up this year on the election day is to hit 4,700 million, exceeding the last round's roll by 300,000 voters.

Dead can vote

But the voting system brings its toll on the neutrality of the process. The electorate register is closed on the first day of January, which means all deaths occurring during the period from 5 to 28, will still be eligible to cast their ballots. This disadvantage, some are concerned, might play in the hands of some parties.

According to the Israeli Interior Ministry accounts, the expected deaths to still be included on the electorate list are to be at least 5000.

Meanwhile, concerns over resistance operations on the election day still arise higher in Israel, especially in the wake of the twin Palestinian attacks on Tel Aviv neighborhood that killed 23 people and injured more than hundred others.

"The concerns of potential Palestinian attacks might change the course of the elections process, as the Israeli voters are feared to be deterred from going out to cat their ballots" the Israeli daily Maariv quoted the sources as saying.

Security measures would be tightened up on the election day in fear on new Palestinian resistance attacks. One guard is to be on the standby in every voting center.

The Israeli army would take up securing ballot boxes in the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

On the costs of the elections, Maariv estimated the number at one billion shekels, which pushed the central committee chairman in the Jewish state not to declare the election day a national holiday.