The next Senedd election, on Thursday, the 7th of May 2026, is going to feel a bit different. Not because the voting process itself will be complicated, but because the system has changed. You may have heard people talking about “new constituencies”, “more MSs” or “a different ballot paper”. Well, here’s the lowdown.
One change is that you now get one vote, not two. At previous Senedd elections, voters had two votes: one for a constituency member and for a party on a regional list. In 2026, you will have one vote to choose a political party.
Another change is that Wales is being redrawn into 16 larger constituencies, each electing six Members of the Senedd. That means the Senedd itself will grow from 60 Members to 96.
Why more Members?
The official argument is that the Senedd has outgrown its old size. It still had only 60 Members, even after gaining greater law-making and tax powers and shifting from an Assembly to a Parliament. Increasing that to 96 should give Wales a Parliament with enough members to do the important job of scrutinising the Government’s work.
A new voting system.
So, what will it actually mean when you’re standing in the polling station with a pencil in your hand? In plain English, you will be looking at a ballot paper where you choose one party from a list. The ballot paper will still show the names of the candidates, so you can see who is attached to each party list, but you are not picking between individual candidates from the same party.
Seats are then allocated based on the number of votes each party receives in that constituency. If a party wins enough support for three seats, for example, then the top three people on that party’s list are elected. The idea behind the change is to make the result more proportional, so the number of seats won is closer to the number of votes cast.
For voters, the short version is: one vote, six representatives for your area, and a system designed to better match votes to seats. If you are 16 or over and registered to vote in Wales, you can take part.
You can register to vote here. The registration deadline is 11:59pm on the 20th April 2026.
If you are registered, you don’t need an ID to vote; you can turn up at the polling station on the day, give the polling staff your name and address, and you will receive a ballot paper. You can also vote in advance by mail.
You can register for a postal vote here, and remember you have until 5 pm on the 21st of April 2026 to apply for one for the Senedd election on Thursday the 7th of May.
It is a significant change, but the basic message is not hard to grasp. You vote once. Your area elects six Senedd Members. And the make-up of the Senedd is meant to better reflect how people in Wales actually voted and do a better job of scrutinising what the government of the day does.