Don't understand a thing about politics? Great.
This is how the October 27, 2026 election works, in four steps and under a minute.
You vote for a list, not a person
At the polling station you put one ballot slip in the envelope, printed with the letters of one list. Each list is a party, or several parties running together, with a fixed order of candidates.
The Knesset has 120 seats
Each list gets seats in proportion to its share of the votes cast for lists that passed the threshold. Candidates enter in their order on the list: whoever is number 1 gets in first.
Fewer than 4 seats? You're out
A list needs at least 3.25% of the vote, roughly 4 seats, to enter the Knesset. Votes for a list that does not pass the threshold do not turn into seats.
61 to form a government
After the election, the President asks one of the Members of Knesset to form a government. To take office, the government needs the confidence of the Knesset - in practice, a coalition of lists that together hold at least 61 seats, even if no list won a majority on its own.
Now you know enough.
Want to check which list is closest to your views?
Want to understand how the Knesset works from the inside, from a bill's preliminary reading to the Norwegian Law? Read the guide and glossary