Starting in 2026, the way you vote in Senedd elections is changing.
In the past, you had two votes. The first vote was to choose a candidate to represent your constituency, and the second vote was usually for a party to represent the region of Wales you lived in.
With the new system, you'll now cast a single vote to select the political party or independent candidate you want to represent your constituency.
However, the method for determining the elected candidates is changing.
Let's explore these changes and understand how the new system will work.
What was the previous voting system?
In previous Senedd elections, a voting system called the ‘Additional Member System’ was used. This system combined two types of voting.
First, people voted for a candidate to represent their constituency using the First Past the Post (FPTP) method. Then there was a second vote, using proportional voting to choose candidates to represent regions of Wales. The combination of these two votes elected all Members of the Senedd.
The upcoming change to the voting system in 2026 means that you will only cast one vote for a constituency candidate.
How is the new system different?
The new voting system is called a ‘closed proportional list system’. This is a form of proportional representation.
With this system you vote for a political party and its attached list of candidates. You could also vote for an independent candidate standing in the election.
New Members of the Senedd will be elected, in order, from party lists. Or independent candidates will be elected where they win enough votes.
So how will candidates be elected?
Candidates elected using this system are decided using something called the D’Hondt formula, which divides each party's votes by the number of seats they have already won, plus one.
After winning a seat, a party’s votes are then divided by two; after winning two seats, their votes are divided by three, and so on.
Vote counts takes place in rounds, with the party with the highest total in each round winning the seat.
Let’s use the table below to look at example of this and see how it changes in each round.
|
|
Party A |
Party B |
Party C |
Party D |
Independent candidate |
|
Votes |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
Round 1
As the party with the most votes, Party A would take the first seat. The first candidate on their list would be elected.
|
|
Party A |
Party B |
Party C |
Party D |
Independent candidate |
|
Votes |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 1 |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
Party A’s votes would then be divided by two for the next round.
Example:
Party A: 300/(1+1 seat)=150
Round 2
In the next round, Party B now has the highest number of votes, so they win a seat. So the first candidate on their list will be elected.
|
|
Party A |
Party B |
Party C |
Party D |
Independent candidate |
|
Votes |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 1 |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 2 |
150 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
Party B’s votes would then be divided by two for the next round.
Example:
Party B: 210/(1+1 seat)=105
Round 3
In the third round, Party A has the highest total of votes again and wins a second seat. The second person on this party’s list would now be elected.
|
|
Party A |
Party B |
Party C |
Party D |
Independent candidate |
|
Votes |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 1 |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 2 |
150 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 3 |
150 |
105 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
Party A’s original vote total (300) is now divided by three (1+2 seats they have already won).
Example:
Party A: 300/(1+2 seats) = 100
This continues until all the seats are filled.
In this example:
· Party A will win 3 seats
· Party B will win 2 seats
· Party C will win 1 seat
|
|
Party A |
Party B |
Party C |
Party D |
Independent candidate |
|
Votes |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 1 |
300 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 2 |
150 |
210 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 3 |
150 |
105 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 4 |
100 |
105 |
120 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 5 |
100 |
105 |
60 |
30 |
10 |
|
Round 6 |
100 |
70 |
60 |
30 |
10 |
|
Elected |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
The new system makes sure the number of seats each party or independent candidate wins is closer to the percentage of votes they receive.
So in this example Party A won 45% of the vote and 50% of the seats; Party B won 31% of the vote and 33.3% of the seats; Party C won 18% of the vote and 16.6% of the seats.
If a party gets enough votes, they will secure one or more seats in the Senedd. Independent candidates can also win a seat if they get enough votes.
Every vote matters, so the Senedd better represents voters' choices across Wales.
