Rabat – Moroccans head to the polls on Friday for the kingdom’s second parliamentary elections since the adoption of the 2011 constitution.
15.7 million Moroccans are registered to vote and 6.992 candidates will compete to win seats in the 395-member House of Representatives, Morocco’s lower house of parliament.
A total of 1,410 candidacy lists were submitted for local and national electoral districts.
The electoral body is composed, according to gender, of 55% of men against 45% of women, of which 55% from urban areas and 45% from rural communities. According to age groups, 30% of voters are under 35 years old, 43% are aged between 35 and 45 years, and 27% have more than 54 years, according to the same source.
Some 4,000 national and international observers have been accredited to monitor the parliamentary elections in Morocco.
These observers, including 92 international observers, conduct the independent and neutral observation of the parliamentary elections since the beginning of the electoral campaign and until the announcement of results.
The Istiqlal party (PI), the Authenticity and Modernity party (PAM) and the Justice and Development party (PJD) submitted 92 lists each, that is 100% of districts, while the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) submitted 91 lists, that is 98.9% of districts. The Progress and Socialism party (PPS) and the Alliance of parties of the federation of the democratic left wing submitted 90 lists each, that 97.8% of districts.
The election campaign was kicked off on Sept. 24, 2016 and will run until Thursday, Oct. 6 at midnight.
