How the voting system works

The Senedd election is happening on Thursday 7 May 2026.

Polling stations (where you vote in person) are open between 7am and 10pm.

96 Members of the Senedd will be elected at this election. Before the election there were 60 Members of the Senedd.

You can vote once, for a political party or an independent candidate.

Wales is divided into 16 voting areas. These are called constituencies.

6 Members of the Senedd will be elected in each constituency.

Political parties can choose up to 8 people to stand as candidates in the election in each constituency (voting area).

You can find information about your constituency here.

The political parties will choose the order that their candidates are in on the ballot (voting paper).

If a political party wins 1 seat in a constituency, the first candidate on their list will be elected.

Some people standing for election won't be representing a political party. These are called independent or individual candidates.

You will vote once, for the political party or independent candidate you want to win.

You’ll get one ballot (voting) paper, and you’ll put a mark (X) next to the political party or independent candidate you choose.

Voting finishes at 10pm on Thursday 7 May 2026.

Votes will be counted on Friday 8 May 2026 and results are also expected on the Friday.

The election uses a proportional voting system.

Proportional systems are designed to make sure the number of seats a political party wins roughly matches its share of the vote.

For example, if a party wins 50% of the vote in a constituency, they’ll win 3 out of the 6 seats.

There are a lot of different proportional voting systems that exist. The Senedd election uses a closed list proportional system.

Closed list means that political parties choose the order of the candidates (the people standing for election) on the party list.

For example, if a political party wins 3 seats in a constituency, the top 3 people on their list are elected.

The voting system makes sure that the number of seats a party wins matches its share of the vote by using a mathematical formula.

This formula is called the D’Hondt method, and it is used by a lot of countries around the world.

The Senedd has written a useful guide to the D’Hondt method.