Marrakech – Moroccan authorities arrested a man at a polling station in Tangier today after they caught him carrying a bag of electoral ballots, opening a judicial investigation while voters across the country cast their votes in legislative elections.
According to a statement from the King’s Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Tangier, the man stood in the courtyard of an educational institution that houses a polling station when officers detained him with the ballots.
The prosecutor ordered an inquiry to establish the facts and circumstances, adding that investigators continue their work and will draw the appropriate legal consequences once they finish.
The incident unfolded at Al Quds School, where security services detained a suspect at polling station No. 84 or No. 87, according to conflicting reports, amid considerable commotion and altercations at the site. On-site sources said the arrest was linked to possession of what they described as “illegal electoral ballots.” Authorities then closed the station after observers from political parties protested.
Earlier, the King’s Prosecutor General at the Court of Appeal in Tangier opened a judicial investigation into a video that circulated on social media, showing a glass ballot box that held several white envelopes.
The prosecutor explained that the inquiry aims to establish the reality of the footage and to determine any legal consequences. The opening of the investigation does not, at this stage, confirm electoral fraud.
The Justice and Development Party (PJD) treated the Tangier events as a “serious infringement on the integrity of elections” in the district.
Its central campaign committee reported complaints from several constituencies and pointed to legal voting papers found outside polling stations, which it charged aimed to benefit a candidate of the Tractor party – the symbol of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM). The committee called for urgent intervention by the authorities and the public prosecution.
The disputes surfaced as roughly 15.8 million registered voters are choosing members of the House of Representatives. Polls opened at 8 a.m. and remain open until 7 p.m., with 28 political formations vying for 395 seats across 7,288 candidacies nationwide.
These rank as the 12th legislative elections since independence and the sixth since King Mohammed VI took the throne in 1999.
The campaign ran from September 10 until Tuesday at midnight, against a backdrop of debate over employment, the economy, public services, and youth participation. Results will determine which party the King tasks with forming a government, which requires a 198-seat majority in the House. The Interior Ministry plans to announce the first provisional results early Thursday.
The public prosecution earlier recorded 93 election-related complaints between August 21 and September 15, down from 229 in the same period in 2021, and adjudicated 92% of them.
Read also: Tiflet Left Alliance Files Police Complaint Over Alleged Election Irregularities
