How do you vote in the Senedd election?

On 7 May 2026 Welsh voters will head to the polls for the next Senedd election. 

It promises to be the most consequential election to Cardiff Bay since the National Assembly for Wales, as it used to be called, was established in 1999. 

That is largely because of major reforms to the way the Senedd is elected. 

Here's a brief guide to the changes.

At the moment the Welsh Parliament, or Senedd Cymru, is made up of 60 politicians. 

Forty of those represent an individual constituency. 

They're elected via the first-past-the-post system, where the candidate with the most votes wins the seat. 

The remaining 20 Members of the Senedd (MSs) are regional politicians, with five regions represented by four regional MSs each. 

These members are elected via a proportional system with the number of politicians elected from each party based on the proportion of votes each party gets.

At the next election the 40 constituencies and five regions will disappear and Wales will be divided into 16 large constituencies.

Each one will be represented by six MSs as the total number of politicians in Cardiff Bay increases from 60 to 96. 

The first-past-the-post voting system will also be scrapped with all MSs being elected via a proportional system known as D'Hondt.

The method uses a mathematical formula to distribute seats based on the proportion of votes won by each party.

In previous elections voters have had two votes. 

The first vote would be given to a person hoping to be elected as the local MS and the second would be used to back a political party. 

The second votes would then be totted up and put through the D'Hondt formula to share out the four regional seats in that part of the country.

But in 2026 voters will only have one vote, and they will not have the opportunity to support a specific candidate. 

Instead, they will only be able to pick a party. 

In each of the 16 constituencies, each party will have a list of ranked candidates. 

The number of people elected from each party's list will depend on the proportion of votes won by the party. 

How the parties compile their lists and rank their candidates is a matter for them.

Come election day, voters won't be able to pick and choose the individuals they would like to elect.

The voting system is changing as part of wider reforms pushed through the Senedd by Labour and Plaid Cymru. 

The idea is that a more proportional system will better reflect a diversity of views. 

However, critics say the exact system chosen puts too much power in the hands of parties and removes choice from voters.

People aged 16 and over in Wales will be eligible to vote. 

At the moment, voters must register to vote themselves. 

Councils must then contact households to check whether the existing electoral register is accurate, identify new voters, and invite residents to apply to be on the register. 

However, a new law passed by the Senedd last year could see automatic registration rolled out ahead of the election. 

Pilot schemes are already underway in certain parts of Wales. 

Automatic registration would mean that people would no longer have to register themselves to vote.