Public prosecutors received 403 complaints linked to the Sept. 23 legislative elections, a sharp drop from the 1,071 complaints recorded during the 2021 elections, a senior official at the Presidency of the Public Prosecution said.
Mourad Alami, head of the public prosecution and criminal policy monitoring unit, said the elections took place under normal conditions and that authorities handled election-related complaints quickly.
The complaints were filed either directly with public prosecutors or through electronic platforms set up by the Presidency of the Public Prosecution, allowing citizens to submit complaints remotely.
Election Day recorded the highest number of complaints, Alami said.
Investigations were also completed quickly, with an average processing time of no more than 48 hours, according to the official.
Most of the complaints did not concern specific electoral offenses but involved common crimes allegedly committed during the election campaign, including violence, insults and violations of privacy.
Several complaints concerned alleged defamation and violations of private life online. Prosecutors opened investigations into these cases and brought legal proceedings against those accused, Alami said.
He also said only four complaints were recorded in connection with the failure to provide candidate representatives with copies of polling-station records, involving the electoral districts of Guelmim, Fahs-Anjra and Souk El Arbaa.
Judicial investigations were opened into all four cases. Two were dismissed after authorities found that there was not enough evidence of a criminal offense, while the other two remain under investigation.
Alami said the procedure for obtaining copies of polling-station records is clearly regulated under Article 57 of the organic law governing the House of Representatives.
Under the law, polling-station heads must provide copies of the records to representatives of candidates who are present when the records are prepared.
The representative’s presence at the polling station during the preparation of the record is a key legal requirement, Alami said.
If a candidate’s representative leaves the polling station and returns only after the vote has been counted and the record prepared, the legal conditions for an offense are not met, he said.
In such cases, prosecutors cannot pursue criminal proceedings over the failure to provide a copy because the required legal condition was absent.
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