Knesset Speaker Avraham (Avrum) Burg declared victory in yesterday's Labor Party election for party chairman. With unofficial results showing Burg leading by a mere 1,000 votes, Defense Minister Binyamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer called for a recount of all ballots, threatening to send the election results into drawn-out litigation processes similar to those that haunted Florida voters after the last American presidential election.

Burg's narrow lead of 1% after the tabulation of 98% of the ballots followed a tense night of counting that originally gave Ben-Eliezer a slight advantage. Burg's staff declared victory this morning, claiming that he had received over 50% of the votes cast. Labor Party Secretary General Raanan Cohen cautioned both sides to refrain from victory declarations until the final, official results of the ballot are announced, possibly early this afternoon.

The Labor Party's Election Committee met this morning to discuss vote totals and claims disputing the validity of certain election results. Ben-Eliezer supporters told Army Radio that Burg was "trying to steal the party" and that his lead in the voting was based on vote fraud and irregularities in many polling stations, especially in the Druze sector. "The actual results in all sectors indicate a clear advantage to Ben-Eliezer," they claimed.

Media reports suggested that the Ben-Eliezer camp would demand a total recount of all ballots cast. Both sides have engaged legal counsel to contend potentially unfavorable results. Burg has hired Former Finance Minister Yaakov Ne'eman and Attorney Ram Caspi has joined the Ben-Eliezer team to press charges of voter fraud. Caspi said that Burg's high support in the Druze sector raised many suspicions.

Labor Party officials were hopeful that the need to determine ballot results with the help of lawyers would not result in a drawn-out process. Former Knesset member and Burg supporter Hagai Merom said this morning he hoped "this fiasco would not continue for too long."

Some 60% of registered Labor Party members participated in the voting yesterday. Ben-Eliezer was the clear winner in the urban sector, defeating Burg in Tel Aviv and Haifa by 53% - 46%. Burg came out ahead in Jerusalem, but his main successes were among Labor Party members in kibbutzim (54% - 43%), the Arab sector (56% - 44%) and the Druze sector (79% - 21%). The voting turnout in the Arab sector was surprisingly high, with some 80% of registered Labor Party members participating in the vote.

"Battle" over Druze vote
Members of the Ben-Eliezer camp filed 14 charges of alleged voter fraud in polling stations in the Druze sector and called for new elections there. Supporters of Ben-Eliezer claim they have concrete evidence that party members listed as having voted actually never arrived at polling stations to cast their ballots.

According to ynet, the Ben-Eliezer camp claims to have a written affidavit from a Druze lawyer who showed up at his polling station to cast his ballot only to be told that he had already voted.

Yediot Aharonot reported that in a number of cases voter participation in certain polling stations jumped drastically despite the fact that only a few party members had arrived at the polling station. The paper quoted party activists who claimed to have seen people drop large quantities of envelopes into the ballot boxes.

Merom said this morning that the real loser of yesterday's elections was the Labor Party itself. "Whoever hoped that the elections would bring about a new beginning for the party should take a careful look at what happens now," he wrote on ynet. The legal battles "have destructive potential for the Labor Party," he added, suggesting that whoever was eventually declared as the new party chairman will have been de-legitimized by the disputed ballot.

© 2001 Koret Communications Ltd. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.