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Sep 12, 2013

My law proposal regarding changing address for elections

I am going to propose a new law here right now. Send it to your favorite politician for consideration and submission to the Knesset.

I recently picked up a hitchhiker (I admit I do not do so often) and brought him to RBS with me. This hitchhiker was fairly talkative and he starts talking about the local elections. He is a yeshiva student learning and dorming in a local yeshiva, though he hails from a different city. He tells me, while we are driving, about what he thinks of the elections. Then he tells me that in his yeshiva, they are all registering with the Misrad Hapnim to change their addresses in their identity cards to indicate Bet Shemesh as their places of residence.

This is completely legal, by the way. No scam is being pulled. Students in a city from elsewhere, if they are living in the city, are allowed to change their address to that city and be considered a resident of the hosting town. I am sure certain requirements must be met, but overall it is a simple process.

Now here is the kicker. This student tells me that they are all changing their address to Bet Shemesh for the elections, but then a month later will be changing their addresses back, each one to whatever city he actually lives in (or, I should say, each one to the city in which his family lives).

I did not get that, and asked why rush to change it back? What's the big deal, especially if you are in Bet Shemesh anyway?

He tells me they will be changing it back shortly after elections because their families get discounts in arnona in whatever city they live in, and part of the calculations for arnona discounts is how many people live in the home.

Also perfectly legitimate by law.

It seems there is some loophole in the law. Even though everything being done looks to me to be legal (I am no lawyer, nor am I an expert in the relevant laws, so it looks to me to be legal, but maybe somebody else will find a problem with the process), it seems to me there is a problem here. Something like this should not be allowed. People should not be allowed to change addresses so flippantly, just for a specific benefit like this.

I propose a law that in general people should not be able to process a change of address to a different city more than once a year. The law can include exceptions, such as if a request is made it must be accompanied by proof of actual residency or whatever exceptions might be necessary to include. If someone wants to change his address, say to Elad, so he can vote for a specific candidate there because in his own town his vote doesnt matter, he should know that he is doing so at risk of losing his arnona discount or whatever other benefits he might lose by not being a resident of his real city of residence. Fates of towns with people living in them should not be dependent on who can play the game better and take advantage of such loopholes changing address this way and that way. Pick where you want to live, and live with your decision. If you want to live in Bet Shemesh, don't try to get an arnona discount in Bnei Braq or Elad or Modiin Ilit, and vice versa. A student can change his address to indicate the town in which he is studying (assuming he meets the requirements) and then vote in that towns elections - but then don't change it back right after elections to continue getting benefits elsewhere. it is one town or the other.

So, I propose a law be written that limits the frequency of changing address when moving from one city to another, with exceptions. Pass it along to your favorite politician. He or she will only support it if he is not involved in such a deception himself..





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14 comments:

  1. Of course, since there are no regional elections here, there is no real connection between an MK and a citizen (e.g. there is no MK whom I can call "my representative") so there is not much chance of my favorite politician taking any interest in what I tell him.

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  2. true, but they like to be behind submitting laws. it makes them look like they are actually doing something.. :-)

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  3. add in an addendum that a someone has to be living in a town for six months before he can run for local office there.

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  4. I like the reasoning behind your law. As proof of residency is probably required in order to change that information, I think the solution can be far simpler.

    I think the solution can be far simpler. If you file to change your address with either the Arnona office or Misrad HaPnim that information should be forwarded to the other office. Changing your address and immediately changing it back should automatically be flagged and investigated. If it is discovered that no change actually occurred the person would risk losing their discounts (ie. The new city could be declared the permanent address) and possibly face fraud charges. The Government proved that if the will is there they can stop this the same way they cracked down on the Yeshivas with fake students.

    This could also help deal with another problem New Olim sometimes face. They sometimes don't have permanent housing when they land and don't activate their Arnona discount right away. In order to get the full year they have to prove they did not collect the Arnona discount anywhere else in the country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. how do they prove it? I never heard this issue before

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    2. The case I know about, they needed a letter from the Iriyah of the city they claimed to live in saying that they did not receive the Arnona discount in that city. They didn't need proof they were in that city.

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  5. Likewise, someone running for office must have lived in the city for at least one year. That would have solved our problem in Jerusalem, where Likud Beiteinu decided to parachute in a candidate who moved here two months ago from Givatayim.

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    Replies
    1. some sort of timeframe should be required. 1 year, 2 years, 6 months, etc. whatever, it shouldnt be right before elections

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  6. That just begs the question - should it be a state law or a local law? (Is there such a thing as a local law or procedure for that?)

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  7. i do hope that you send a summary of this to a certain MK that you know.

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    Replies
    1. having him propose it may very well get a lot of opposition to this, as they will say it is anti-haredi, just because it is being proposed by him.. :-)

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    2. well, if it is yeshiva guys playing around with their addresses and shas/UTJ politicians jumping cities 20 minutes before the deadline ends, there is some truth to the accusation.

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    3. I dont know if it is just yeshiva guys. I know that in Jerusalem there was a campaign to have university students change their addresses to reflect jerusalem so they could vote in Jerusalem (ostensibly for Nir Barkat)... the difference is that they probably wont rush to change it back because most of them arent worried about their parents arnona discounts getting canceled..

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