How votes become seats

Two tiers of districts The House of Representatives has 395 members elected in two tiers : - 305 seats in 92 local districts, each electing two to six members. - 90 seats in 12 regional districts (one per region), each electing 3 to 12 members.

In the regional districts women must hold the first two places on every list and at least a third of these seats .

List voting and proportional representation Voters choose a party list rather than an individual, and seats in each district are allocated proportionally. This system, in place since 2002, limits the dominance of any single party and usually produces a multi-party House that requires coalition governments .

The electoral quotient: the 2021 reform Before 2021 the "electoral quotient" — the number of votes needed to win a seat — was calculated from valid votes cast. Since 2021 it has been calculated from the number of registered voters, and the thresholds of 6% for local lists and 3% for national lists were abolished. In practice the leading list in a district rarely wins more than one seat .

Who benefits? The rule weakens the strongest party’s ability to turn its vote lead into seats and helps medium and small parties. The PJD, then the leading party, opposed it; the 2021 and 2026 elections were held under it . In 2026 seats were spread among 14 parties and alliances .

What changed in 2026? The 2026 election was held under Organic Law No. 53.25 (January 2026), which kept the same structure (305 + 90), added new candidacy requirements and measures to encourage young candidates, and introduced provisions against spreading "false information" during campaigns .

And the Government? Once results are announced, the King appoints the Head of Government from the winning party (Article 47), who then needs an absolute majority of the House (at least 198 votes) to install the Government (Article 88) .