The High Court of Justice today (Thursday) accepted the petitions against the election of Attorney Michael Rabillo to the position of State Comptroller - and ordered the cancellation of the second round of voting in which he was elected to the position.
In the vote, Attorney Michael Rabillo and retired Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron competed for the position.
The verdict was given by the panel headed by Yitzhak Amit, and with the participation of judges Noam Solberg, Dafna Barak-Erez, Gila Kanfi-Steinitz and Ruth Ronen.
In the ruling, Judge Noam Solberg ruled that the secrecy of the vote is not a personal right that a member of Knesset may waive, but rather a requirement that applies to the entire election process.
According to him, documenting the vote through videotapes violates secrecy, may put pressure on other Knesset members, and harms their independence of judgment.
The judges noted that at least six Knesset members recorded their votes in a manner that violated the principle of secrecy. Given that Rabilo was elected by a margin of only four votes, it was determined that there was a real possibility that the flaw affected the election results, and therefore the second round of voting should be canceled.
"The vote that took place was not secret - and therefore must be annulled," the judges ruled.
The ruling emphasized that the Knesset must complete the process of selecting the State Comptroller as soon as possible and in accordance with the provisions of the law.
It was also noted that it is appropriate for the Knesset to clearly regulate the rules of secret voting in order to prevent similar cases from recurring in the future.
