In April’s election, the voting rate among Israel’s Arab population dropped below 50%. There are many different reasons for this, stemming, among other things, from the breakup of the Arab Joint List and the overwhelming feeling that Arab voters have no influence. In other words, the average Arab voter feels that even if they cast a ballot, their vote will have no real impact because Arab parties don’t join the coalition, while the Zionist parties don’t really do anything to benefit the Arab sector.

In preparation for the most recent election, on Sept. 17, various groups within the Arab sector looked for ways to increase the voting rate among Israel’s Arab citizens. One such initiative is “The Local Ballot Project,” created by Maisam Jaljuli of the Tishreen association, which works to advance Arab society in Israel. It was considered a big success. The idea was simple. Right next to polling booths, where citizens would cast their votes for the 22nd Knesset, additional voting booths would be set up in Arab towns, so that residents could vote on important local issues.

In a conversation with Al-Monitor, Jaljuli said that nine local authorities in the Arab sector agreed to add local polling stations on election day, where residents would be asked to vote on local initiatives. Of course, they also agreed to implement whatever the majority of local voters decided. “We didn’t reinvent the wheel,” she said. “We copied the idea from the American system, as well as from systems used in certain European countries like Switzerland. In those places, voters have an opportunity on election day to respond to questions on local issues, ranging from the paving of new roads to the selection of public servants.”

So, on Sept. 17, hundreds of polling booths for local issues were set up in nine Arab towns, alongside polling booths for the national election. The issues that voters were asked to decide on were the subject of an intense advertising campaign on social media and in the local press well before the election.