Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lamented the relatively low turnout in traditional Likud neighborhoods in the national Knesset elections Tuesday, compared to record-breaking voter turnout across Israel.
"There are reports that in regions that have traditionally been Likud strongholds, turnout has been lower than the national average," Netanyahu said during a visit to a polling station in Ashdod. "I therefore call on all generations of Likud voters to drop everything and go vote."
The Central Elections Committee reported record voter turnout on Tuesday, when 38% cast their ballot by 2 p.m., Israel Radio reported, apparently the highest turn-out in a decade. Israeli media also reported a higher than expected level of voting among prisoners, who, unlike those serving a jail term in the United States, are permitted to cast a ballot.
Netanyahu is widely expected to be tapped to form the next government, although final polls taken in the run-up to Tuesday's vote indicated that his Likud-Beytenu party would indeed claim the most seats, but with a significant drop from the 42 seats that it boasted when Likud and Yisrael Beytenu joined forces back in October.