EA Bulletin: 408 Wales

Once nominations for the polls on 7 May 2026 close on 9 April, and you know the details of the candidates standing for election in your area, you should re-visit your risk register and review your plans accordingly, including any arrangements you have made regarding candidate security.

As mentioned in Bulletin 400, you should make arrangements to provide the police with the contact details for all candidates standing for election. This will enable them to provide up-to-date security information and advice directly to candidates.

With the publication of the Statement of Parties and Persons Nominated for the May polls, you should also review and remove any historic election notices still available on your website, to prevent any confusion and help to ensure any previous candidates’ personal details are not still available.

As always, if you have any issues or need any support, please contact the Wales team on [email protected].   

Further to Bulletin 405, we have received further queries regarding the regarding the ordering of parties on the statement of parties and persons nominated and the ballot paper. We have reviewed this with Welsh Government who have confirmed that:

• As set out in our guidance a party can use the English version, Welsh version or both versions of the party name or description on the nomination form, as long as these are registered with the Commission.
• The alphabetical ordering of the registered party name/party description should be undertaken based on whatever the party has chosen to use on their nomination form (which must reflect either the party's name or chosen description as registered with the Commission).
• Where both the registered English and Welsh versions are used, the alphabetical ordering will be on the basis of whichever the party has chosen to use first.
• The final statement of parties and persons nominated and ballot paper could include a mixture of Welsh and English registered party names/descriptions being presented first.
• ROs should check the register of political parties for the exact details of the party as registered with the Commission.

We have also emailed all Returning Officers and registered political parties in Wales with detailed advice on this issue. If you have any queries or need any further support, please contact the Wales team on [email protected].   

We have updated our guidance following advice from MHCLG relating to individuals from Hong Kong and their voting rights.

The updated guidance sets out the eligibility for different Hong Kong related nationalities in Wales, and the recommended way to verify the nationality of someone from Hong Kong.

If you have any queries or need any further support, please contact the Wales team at [email protected].   

We appreciate this is a very busy period for administrators, parties, candidates and agents and are here to support you to understand and apply the law in practice. In the run up to the Senedd elections taking place on 7 May, the Electoral Commission is running a series of advice surgeries for candidates and agents who would like bespoke advice on a specific query or issue. These virtual, 20-minute sessions are an opportunity to ask questions to our guidance experts on a range of topics, including candidate spending and donations, the imprints regime and advice on how to prepare the candidate spending return.

The surgeries will take place on Tuesday 21 April between 10:00-16:00. If you could please share this invitation with candidates and agents, they are welcome to register by completing this form.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].