Morocco votes Wednesday as young candidates seek to turn Gen Z protests into seats

Morocco holds a parliamentary election for all 395 House of Representatives seats Wednesday, with young candidates seeking to channel youth frustration into formal politics.

• More than 15.8 million voters are registered for the September 23 vote to elect all 395 seats in the House of Representatives.
• The election follows protests that began September 27, 2025 after eight women died following Caesarean deliveries in Agadir; at least three people were killed during the unrest.
• Candidates filed 1,615 local lists with 5,505 candidates, up from 1,472 lists in the 2021 election.
• Only about four percent of registered voters are aged 18 to 24, and youth unemployment stands at 37.2 percent, according to the High Commission for Planning.
• Morocco's campaigns entered the official pre-vote silence period, with 28 parties pledging wage increases and income-tax cuts.
• Women head just 121 of the 1,615 local lists, with 875 female candidates, as activists cite stalled parity since 2011.
• Economist Badr Zaher Al-Azraq warned that the rival parties' costly pledges face a persistent 3 to 4 percent budget deficit.
• RNI's Aziz Akhannouch pledged a minimum-wage increase, expanded direct social support, and one million new jobs in closing messages.
• A total of 7,288 candidates are competing for the 395 House seats in Wednesday's election, the campaign ending at midnight Tuesday.
• Some 3,006 observers were accredited for the election, while a central vote-tracking committee was activated in July.
• Wednesday's vote is Morocco's 12th parliamentary election since independence, with two independent candidate lists running alongside 28 parties.
• A record 2,658 women are standing, including 1,783 on dedicated regional lists reserved for female candidates.