Local polls: under-44 make nearly half of elected councilors

A rate of 45% of the councilors elected during the September 12 local polls are aged under 44, while those who were elected for the first time account for 52%.

With the decision to lower voting age from 20 to 18 announced in king Mohammed VI's speech of December 10, 2002, the number of newly-registered electors reached 1.5 million.

Concerning ages of the 122,069 candidates who ran for local councils, people aged under 34 years represented 31% of the overall number while those aged between 34 and 44 accounted for 31%.

Morocco's Interior Minister on Saturday said 54.16 percent of the 7,918,640 registered voters turned out Friday to polling stations nationwide to elect their representatives in local councils and districts.