Moroccan Election Results

Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa announced the results of the June 12th local elections on Saturday. He praised the turnout, 52.4%, up from 38% in the legislative elections of 2007, as well as the dramatic increase in the number of women elected, which has increased from 127 in 2003 to 3.406 in this year’s elections.

As anticipated, the newly formed Party of Authenticity and Modernity, PAM, had the strongest showing, winning 6,015 or 21.7 percent of the 27,795 available positions.

PAM was followed by the ruling Independence party, Istiqlal, with 5,292 seats or 19 percent of the vote. RNI followed with 4,112 seats or 14.8 percent, then USFP with 3,226 seats or 11.6 percent. Mouvement Populaire, MP, gained 2,213 positions or 8 percent of the vote.

Perhaps the most surprising result was the sixth place finish of the leading Islamist party, the Party of Justice and Development (PJD) who garnered only 5.4% of the vote or a little over 1,500 seats. The UC took 4.7% of the vote or 1,307 seats and the PPS received 4% of the vote or 1,102 seats.

Although the elections have been largely declared free and fair by international observers, accusations of illegal conduct abound.

In Fez medina, one rumor claims that ballots from the 2007 elections were found in polling stations across the city. Old ballots are sometimes used to buy votes. This can occur either when a party obtains a blank ballot or has an old ballot from the previous year. They select their own party and then give it to a voter. If the voter places that ballot in the box, but then returns with his blank ballot from the current year, the party can be assured that he has voted for their party and he can be paid. Because uncontested ballots are burned following the counts, such accusations cannot be confirmed.



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