Turnout in the North African country was 45%, the Interior Ministry said.

Both Parliament and the prime minister have greater powers under the new constitution, while the monarch's sway has been slightly lessened.

More than 300 international observers monitored the voting, alongside 3,500 Moroccan observers, the semiofficial Le Matin newspaper reported.

Morocco's moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) is expected to do well in the vote.

The elections were first set for September 2012, but they were rescheduled after negotiations between the Interior Ministry, which oversees elections, and some 20 political parties.

Under the constitutional changes approved in July, the country's prime minister must now be chosen from the party that wins the greatest number of votes, rather than King Mohammed VI selecting his own nominee for the job.

However, he is not obliged to choose the leader of the winning party, which gives him more room to maneuver.

The constitutional changes came after thousands of Moroccans took to the streets to demonstrate earlier this year, inspired by what became known as the Arab Spring.

The youth-based February 20 Movement called for jobs and an end to corruption its members say stems from royal cronies.