A major survey conducted ahead of Morocco’s 2026 legislative elections paints a stark picture of civic disillusionment. Carried out by the association Les Citoyens across all twelve regions of the Kingdom between January and April 2026, the study gathered responses from 2,992 participants — predominantly urban, educated and civically engaged citizens. The sample, the study authors acknowledge, is not statistically representative of the full electorate, but the findings are all the more revealing for reflecting the most politically active segments of Moroccan society.
The credibility crisis runs deep. While 66.6 percent of respondents consider voting an important or very important civic duty, only 13.6 percent find recent electoral results credible, with 56.3 percent assigning them the lowest credibility grades. Public institutions fare no better, trusted by just 8.3 percent while 66.1 percent rate them negatively. The marginalization of young people stands out as the survey’s most alarming data point: 86.7 percent describe their place in political life as weak or very weak, against a mere 2.2 percent who consider it satisfactory.
The break with political parties is equally pronounced. Nearly eight in ten respondents (79.5 percent) say they have no relationship with any party, over 88 percent believe parties disregard citizens’ concerns, and 90.4 percent say elected officials do not honor their commitments. The survey authors describe this as “critical disengagement” rather than total withdrawal — citizens remain informed, but 74 percent now cite social media as their primary political information source, far ahead of the press (13.6 percent), television (3.4 percent) or radio (0.4 percent).
Looking ahead to 2026, only 42.3 percent express a positive voting disposition (27.9 percent certain, 14.4 percent probable), while 38.6 percent hold a negative intention and 19.1 percent remain undecided. Most strikingly, 24.1 percent say no proposed measure would bring them to vote — a “hard core of electoral abstention” that the report flags as a structural threat to the legitimacy of any future government.
Counter-intuitively, 18 to 24-year-olds emerge as the most inclined to vote at 49.8 percent — higher than any older age group. Women also express a stronger voting intention than men (49 percent versus 39.6 percent), despite facing greater administrative barriers to registration. To restore confidence, respondents prioritize guarantees of electoral integrity (47.5 percent), clearer political programs (42.9 percent) and greater openness to younger candidates (40.6 percent).
