Some 34.5 percent of eligible voters - around 1.5 million people - had visited the Israeli election polling stations by mid-afternoon Tuesday, according to Haaretz.
The figure was some seven percent lower than that recorded at the same time in the 1999 elections. Voting in the Arab sector was almost non-existent, while turnout among the ultra-Orthodox was also low, said the paper.
By 12 P.M. only 23.5 percent of the 4.5 million eligible voters had voted. That was more than 5 percent lower than in the 1999 election when 28.9 percent had voted by midday, according to Haaretz online service.
Only eleven percent of four million eligible voters in the first three hours voted in the Israeli premiership elections.
The Arab participation was close to zero, with only 0.01 percent of eligible Arab voters had voted. Five people from the UMM al Fahem Arab town cast their ballots and 10 from Taibeh, whereas hardly any voters arrived at the polling booths in various Arab villages in the Galilee, said the Israeli press.
There have been reports of Israelis arrested for disrupting elections, meanwhile Arabs tried to block the way for polling booths after the political leaders of the Arab community decided to boycott the elections - Albawaba.com
