Beit Shemesh – Shaya Brandt, a senior election campaign activist for the haredi Koach party in Beit Shemesh, was arrested last week and released on Monday on conditional terms.
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The terms include five-days’ house arrest, the police’s National Fraud Unit announced.
Brandt was arrested on suspicion that he was one of the organizers of haredi activists who allegedly committed voter fraud on Election Day, October 22, as well as on suspicion that he had arranged payments in return for votes.
On Sunday, David Tefilinsky, incumbent mayor Moshe Abutbul’s closest adviser, was summoned for questioning by the police and subsequently released.
Abutbul, from Shas, won reelection by fewer than 950 votes.
Still, defeated independent candidate Eli Cohen and his campaign team allege that widespread fraud and voting irregularities cast doubt over the validity of the results. They have called for a full police investigation and, if necessary, repeat elections.
Cohen’s campaign staff have been collating extensive documentation and testimony on incidents of voter fraud.
Nine people have been arrested, questioned and released during the police investigation, including Yaakov Porush, the son of United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush, while dozens more have been summoned for questioning.
On Election Day, approximately 200 government-issued personal ID cards were discovered in two apartments in a residential building.
Cohen’s team is expected to submit its appeal to the election clerk in the Interior Ministry this week.
Analysts say the spate of arrests and summons may mean that the police are looking into the possibility that a conspiracy was arranged by senior figures close to Abutbul to subvert the elections.
Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post
There were also about 700 ballots for Cohen that were disqualified because they were tampered with. In total, there was more than enough fraud to change the winner.
Proves that the election wasn’t decided by ALL the people. So whoever says that “the city has spoken” and “the voters have decided” is wrong. Criminals have decided.
The people who sold their ID cards were people who would have voted for Abutbul anyway but weren’t intending to actually vote. So, even though what was done was illegal, it didn’t change the results any more than giving people rides to the polling place would have.
criminals. what a shanda. this is being covered in Arab and Nazi media with glee.
my friend lives there. he tells me stories about these animals that i literally think he is making up.