The Moroccan "Justice and Development" party (leader of the outgoing government coalition) said that "mass violations" took place in the early hours of the Moroccan elections, which started today, Wednesday.

The party issued a statement claiming that the first hours of elections day witnessed several serious violations in different regions. The headquarters of the Justice and Development Party was attacked and its equipment in the city of Berrechid in northern Morocco were sabotaged by "thugs" affiliated with the National Rally of Independents.

According to the statement, numerous candidates' supporters have distributed money to voters in the vicinity of polling stations, in addition to transporting them, which is considered an illegal act that clearly affects the will of voters and the validity of the election results. 

The Justice and Development also mentioned that the violations reached the point of threatening the party's observers with physical assault and forcing them to leave the voting offices, while no authorities interfered to protect them.

Earlier today, the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior declared that the turnout in the legislative and municipal elections reached 12% at 12:00 pm.

It is noteworthy to mention that this is the first simultaneous parliamentary and municipal elections launched in Morocco, in which 17,983,490 (out of about 36 million people) have the right to vote. The voters cast their votes in 92 electoral districts distributed over the kingdom's 12 governorates.