Three weeks after initial indications surfaced of fraudulent votes in the World Zionist Congress elections — and with less than a week until the polls close — slates across the political spectrum are calling for increased scrutiny and election integrity after another wave of suspect votes was revealed in a meeting last Thursday. 

In early April, some 1,900 votes tied to prepaid credit cards and suspicious emails and addresses were flagged for irregularities, resulting in the votes being dismissed. But over the last three weeks, the number of suspect votes has increased significantly. Now, some 8,000 additional votes are under investigation, bringing the total to around 10,000 — nearly 6% of all votes cast as the election approaches the 170,000-vote mark, sources told eJewishPhilanthropy, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The American Zionist Movement, which runs the elections, confirmed that the investigation into voting irregularities is continuing and that additional “irregular votes have been identified and isolated,” though it did not comment on the number of suspect ballots.

AZM also stressed that all of these irregularities have been discovered by the U.S. Area Election Committee, which oversees the voting, and its “own internal monitoring.”

“We remain absolutely committed to upholding the integrity of the election and ensuring that no improper votes will be counted in the final results,” AZM said. “Despite these challenges, we are pleased to report that we remain on course for a record turnout in the 39th World Zionist Congress election. The irregular votes that we have identified represent only a small fraction of the total votes cast and do not impact this significant achievement.”

In response to these latest discoveries, representatives from a wide array of slates told eJP that they were calling for greater accountability from the AEC, which oversees the election, though the timelines and other details for that enforcement vary. Some slates are calling for immediate action, while others say they are withholding judgement and say they are waiting for the results of the AEC’s investigation, which will only be completed after the voting period has concluded on May 4. 

“The allegations into irregularities in voting are of concern and should be investigated thoroughly. The WZC election has rules and processes to ensure a fair and ethical vote takes place. We await the result of the investigation,” a spokesperson for the Mizrachi-Orthodox Israel Coalition said. 

According to Rabbi Josh Weinberg, director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America and the leader of the Vote Reform slate, ARZA is hoping to spend the final week of the election focusing on voter turnout in the lead-up to Yom HaAtzmaut. Earlier this month, ARZA penned a letter — alongside Mercaz, Dorshei Torah V’Tzion, Kol Israel and AID Coalition, as well as organizations on behalf of Hatikvah — calling for any slates involved in fraud to be disqualified from the election and their voters barred from recasting their votes. The slate stands by that stance, Weinberg told eJP, but are hoping for more clarity as the investigation proceeds. “We have clearly set out rules,” he told eJP recently. “If the investigations prove that there are fraudulent votes, not only should they get disqualified, but the parties have to be dealt with accordingly.”

Though he hopes the investigation will be fruitful, Weinberg questions whether it’s possible to detect every instance of fraud. “It’s sad to me that people feel like they have to cheat, and I’m sure that there is stuff going on that won’t get detected,” Weinberg said.  

According to Rabbi Jason Herman, a spokesperson for Dorshei Torah V’Tzion, disciplinary action in response to the suspected fraud likely won’t be feasible until after the election concludes. “At this point we’ve got to wait for the voting to end, and then we’re waiting to hear back what happens,” he said. “We want to reserve judgment until we know what will actually happen.”

Asked if he will trust the election results given indications of fraud, Herman said that although signs of fraud are concerning, he will still trust the results. “There will be close to 200,000 votes cast, and that’s still hundreds of thousands that reflect what the American Jewish community that participated is hoping happens,” Herman told eJP. “The fraud needs to be addressed. And any slates that unfairly benefit need to also be addressed, but I wouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.” 

In the next election cycle, Herman added, he hopes to see stronger efforts made to incorporate technologies to verify voter identities and preempt any issues. 

Roei Eisenberg, executive director of ANU (A New Union), also wants to see the rules adjusted in time for the next election cycle in five years, he told eJP, but is concerned that if breaches of conduct aren’t dealt with immediately, it could have an impact on the election results. “I agree we do need better rules for 2030, but if the people who are sitting around the table won a fraudulent election. Why would anyone trust them?” he said. 

ANU is one of nine new slates in the running for the WZC this year, which has seen a record year in terms of number of groups running and voter turnout. According to Eisenberg, though he expected the election to be contentious, he has found the voting irregularities alarming. Worse, he said, is the inaction he’s perceived as the situation has developed. 

“We should care about ethical behavior. We should be executing and displaying leadership,” he said. “Of course, it would be easy to cheat. Clearly, it’s very easy to cheat. But that’s not why we’re in this. We’re in this to make a positive contribution to the Jewish people.

According to Scott Richman, a co-chair of Kol Israel, the AEC should do more than discount any votes that are found to be fraudulent. “Obviously, if they’re fraudulent, they shouldn’t be counted. But I think there needs to be more than that,” he told eJP. “There needs to be a penalty against the parties involved, because otherwise there’s no disincentive to stop doing it, because they may get away with it.” 

According to Richman, the AEC has a responsibility to inform the voters about what’s going on prior to the end of the election, because it might impact how they cast their votes. 

“It’s not fair to wait if you have the information and you’re just sitting on it. Obviously, if it takes time to do an investigation and it’s impossible in the next six days to do this, then I understand. But this has been going on for weeks,” he told eJP. “It seems to me they have a sense of who did this, and if they do, they really need to let voters know.”

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.