Continue the turnout trend

Despite the stormy weather, the trend of falling voter turnout was reversed in Tuesday's elections; turnout rose slightly.

The fear on the eve of the elections was that voter turnout would be even lower than the 63.5 percent figure of 2006, and possibly even under 60 percent. This would have endangered the legitimacy of the new government and the entire political system. But two-thirds of voters showed maturity this time, understanding that the question is not whether they liked the candidates, but whether they would participate in determining the future of the state.

Even within the Arab community, voter turnout passed the 50 percent mark, according to estimates; the voters provided a proper response to Avigdor Lieberman's anti-Arab campaign, making it clear they wanted to be part of the political process in Israel.

The close contest between Likud and Kadima in the final week of the campaign, which until then had been lethargic, contributed to the high turnout. Voters felt they had the ability to shape the new leadership, after the expectations of an easy and sweeping victory by Benjamin Netanyahu vanished.

Private initiatives to get out the vote also certainly contributed to the turnout, encouraging voters to go out and cast ballots.

However, we should not be too satisfied even though a collapse in voter turnout was avoided. Until a decade ago, turnout in Israel was close to 80 percent and reflected a high level of legitimacy for the political system. We are now far from that record, which was high by the standards of any democracy in the world.

Even more serious, in light of the atmosphere of apathy and despair among the public, is that voter turnout could certainly collapse in the next elections or the one thereafter. That is why we cannot ignore the matter.

It is clear that the real solution for raising voter turnout is to return the voters' confidence in the political system, but it is doubtful this will happen in the next few years. The solutions need to be more practical.

The problem is concentrated among younger voters, and it would be appropriate for the Education Ministry to prepare an educational program on civic duties.

The Knesset also needs to initiate a broad and sophisticated publicity campaign that will start now and continue through the next elections. This way, next time we will not need to depend on private initiatives to get the voters to the polls.