Morocco’s lower house, local elections kick off

RABAT, Sept. 8– Morocco kicked off its lower house and local elections on Wednesday as some 17.5 million eligible voters are going to the polls across the country. The election of the provincial councils will be held on Sept. 21, and the election of the House of Councillors, or the upper house, is scheduled for Oct. 5. It has been the third time that Morocco held such…

RABAT, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — Morocco kicked off its lower house and local elections on Wednesday as some 17.5 million eligible voters are going to the polls across the country.

Polling stations, which are being operated following preventative measures for COVID-19, opened at 8:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT).

Vote counting will be carried out in the presence of contesting candidates and observers shortly after the closure of polling stations at 7:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), and the results will be announced on Wednesday night.

The voting will be for 395 seats in the House of Representatives, or the lower house, and more than 31,000 local and regional officials.

As many as 4,500 Moroccan observers and 100 international bodies will monitor the elections.

The election of the provincial councils will be held on Sept. 21, and the election of the House of Councillors, or the upper house, is scheduled for Oct. 5.

The Justice and Development Party, which won the last two general elections, will be challenged by its ally in the government the National Rally of Independents, apart from main opposition parties the center-left Authenticity and Modernity and the conservative Istiqlal.

It has been the third time that Morocco held such elections ever since the country adopted a new constitution on July 1, 2011, in which the king ceded part of his power to the government and parliament to appease anti-government protests. Enditem