Could a method used to help oust former president Donald Trump in America impact the election in Israel?
In last November’s American election, the pro-Democrat organization Vote Tripling hired people to stand outside polling stations in ten decisive cities and ask voters to call or text three friends and encourage them to vote.
A similar project to raise turnout in next Tuesday’s election was launched Monday by the Darkenu movement, which bills itself as the largest non-partisan civil society movement in Israel, but whose fore-runners led efforts to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Darkenu, led by former Labor Knesset candidate Yaya Fink, launched the “Democrator” app, which can be downloaded for free on Apple and Android. The app is secured and offers no possibility of personal data leaks and is different than the Elector App utilized by Likud and other specific parties.
In order to implement the Vote Tripling method on the ground in Israel, Darkenu is recruiting and training thousands of volunteers to be dispatched on Election Day to stand outside of polling stations all over the country. Instead of reaching out to a random audience, they will approach citizens who have already voted and ask them to send voting-encouragement messages to a few people, friends, or family and get them to vote.
Fink said Darkenu is not against Netanyahu and will send volunteers to polling stations in Likud strongholds like Kiryat Shmona and those of the Likud’s satellite parties like Bnei Brak. He said Darkenu’s goal was to encourage Israeli democracy by maximizing voter turnout.
“If people don’t vote and don’t believe in the system and the democratic institutions, it’s a very short path to not being a democracy,” Fink said.
Likud launched its "Likudelet" campaign – a portmanteau of the party's name and the Hebrew word for door – by which party activists go door-to-door to people considering voting for them.
The party said it gathered 150,000 names of potential voters who had stayed home in previous elections. One of the ways in which it gathered the names was by asking Likud supporters to submit three names each.
MK Amit Halevy, who is leading the "Likudelet" campaign said: "We are not giving up on any of you. The small step from your living room to the polling place is a giant step for the State of Israel."