Morocco sets polling stations and voting rules for Sept. 15 National Press Council elections

Morocco’s temporary committee overseeing the National Press Council and organizing elections for professional journalists’ representatives has published the polling locations and rules for the vote scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026.

Under regulatory decision 03/2026, polling stations will open at 9 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Station presidents and members must arrive before voting begins to check the equipment and required documents.

Voting will be secret and personal. Proxy voting is not allowed, and no voter may cast a ballot more than once. Voters will use a single ballot bearing the National Press Council’s stamp and listing the candidates who received final approval. Each voter may choose one or several candidates, but may mark no more than seven names.

Ballots will be invalid if they lack the council’s stamp, contain votes for more than seven candidates, or include marks that could reveal the voter’s identity, among other cases specified in the decision.

The committee assigned one polling station to each of Morocco’s 12 regions. Journalists may vote only at the station listed for them in the final electoral roll, taking into account approved requests to change stations submitted by the Sept. 10 deadline. Voters must present an electronic national identity card and a valid professional press card.

After receiving a ballot, each voter will enter a voting booth alone, fold the paper, place it personally in the ballot box, and sign beside their name on the electoral roll. Campaigning, distributing candidate-related material, or interfering with voters will be prohibited inside polling rooms. Candidates may appoint representatives to monitor voting, counting, and the tally, but those representatives may not intervene in the station’s duties or influence the process.