Facing low turnout, Morocco continues voter registration

2007-05-09

Morocco's first voter registration drive yielded limited success in registering new voters. A second enrolment period provides an opportunity for more citizens to join the democratic process.

By Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca – 09/05/07

[Imane Belhaj] A poster for one of the citizenship buses which tour Morocco to raise awareness of the need to participate in the elections.

An initial voter enrolment period for Morocco’s September 2007 legislative elections ended May 4th. Despite widespread awareness campaigns educating citizens about the importance of participation, registration offices have not had the response they hoped for. A second registration period will be opened from May 8th-14th.

According to official figures published May 5th, the total number of registered voters in Morocco increased by 10% to more than 14.5 million. New voter registration however, still fell short of projected goals. Of the 3 million new voters the government anticipated, only 1.4 million actually enrolled.

The low turnout was particularly surprising because both the government and non-government associations have been working actively to educate people on the need to register to vote and participate in democratic life. The DABA 2007 Association organized a "citizenship caravan" to bring information to citizens in villages and rural communities. The caravan consists of 10 units which have focused primarily on the importance of registration and its role in preventing voter fraud. The program is set to continue working through July and as the date of the elections approaches, the caravans will educate the electorate on voting "based on party programmes and not in the interest of personal relations", said Houria Habib, co-ordinator of the citizenship caravan.

"This campaign has alerted us to several factors which impede the electoral process, such as young people's lack of confidence in the benefit of these elections", added Habib.

One young man, Lhoucine Khalas asked "Why do those in charge, whether it’s the public authorities or civil society organisations, insist on making us aware of the need to vote, instead of looking into the reasons for this apathy? Why don’t they direct their awareness campaigns at the elected members themselves, the party leaders and the candidates?"

In an effort to attract the interest of young people, Morocco has established newer and more technological methods of voter registration. The government launched a special internet site (www.elections.gov.ma), where citizens can find answers to common questions about the registration and voting process, and where they can verify their registration or enrol using their national ID card number, date of birth and family name. The Ministry of the Interior even allowed voters to register by sending their national ID card number and date of birth by SMS to a toll-free phone number. One association sought to capitalize on Moroccans' sense of competition by offering prizes to those who registered via SMS. The Interior Ministry reported that 1,160,000 people registered via text messaging during the initial enrolment period.

Law professor Miloud Belkadi told Magharebia that the interior ministry figures "cannot be confirmed due to a lack of independent field surveys, but we hope they were not exaggerated." He went on to say that "youth participation will help steer the democratic transition" as young people represent a "powerful electoral bloc".

Although apathy among young people remains an obstacle, outreach campaigns such as the citizen caravan have yielded some success in encouraging other traditionally marginalized groups to register to vote. Of the 1.4 million people that registered in the first round of voter enrolment, 50% came from rural communities and 46% were women, according to government figures. The second registration period will give Morocco's youth another opportunity to join the democratic process.