Visit the referendums page for more information on our role in running referendums and reports on past referendums.
Referendum in Wales
On 9 February 2010 the Welsh Assembly voted in favour of holding a referendum in Wales. This is the first step in the process set out in the Government of Wales Act for a referendum on the Assembly's law-making powers.When will it be?
It is anticipated the referendum will take place before the end of the first quarter of 2011. We will update this information when the Government announces the date.
What question will voters be asked?
The proposed question will be included in a piece of legislation that the UK Parliament and the Welsh Assembly must agree before the referendum can take place. The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), gives us responsibility for commenting on the wording of the question.
The Secretary of State for Wales consulted us on the proposed question in June 2010. We have assessed the question to see whether voters could understand it, and have reported our findings. We have sent our report to the Secretary of State for Wales, who is responsible for deciding the question wording.
Our question assessment
- Summary of our views on the referendum question (PDF)
- Full report of views of the Electoral Commission on the referendum question (PDF)
Supporting evidence for our assessment
- Research Report: Powers of the National Assembly for Wales – Referendum Question Testing (PDF)
- Executive summary of the research report (PDF)
- Submissions from people with an interest in the question(English only) (PDF)
Read an overview of our assessment process and the guidelines we use in these documents:
