Adalah demands public transportation routes for residents of unrecognized Bedouin villages on Election Day

On 22 January 2015, Adalah sent a letter to Supreme Court Justice and Chairman of the Central Elections Commission, Salim Joubran, requesting that public transportation routes be developed for Arab Bedouin residents of the Naqab in order to allow them to vote in the upcoming Israeli general election on 17 March 2015. The letter argued that the lack of public transportation in the the Naqab impedes the Bedouin residents' right to vote and directly influences voter levels in these villages.

Adalah Attorney Nadeem Shehadeh wrote in the letter that approximately 35,000 residents of the Naqab live somewhere between 10-40 km away from polling stations with no means of reaching them. Shehadeh argued:  “The unrecognized villages lack any form of public transportation, and most residents are unable to afford cars of their own due to limited financial resources. These circumstances result in low voter turnout amongst the unrecognized villages and obstruct the residents' right to political participation and voting."

Shehadeh further stressed that it is the duty of the government to facilitate the voting process and advance the rights of the Naqab residents to political participation.