EA Bulletin: 419 Wales

On Monday 14 September, we published our report on the 2026 Senedd elections. The report looks at how the elections were run, how voters found taking part, how candidates and campaigners experienced the polls, and what lessons can be learned for the future.

Overall, we found that electoral administrators again delivered well-run elections with the highest recorded Senedd election turnout and public confidence remaining high despite significant changes to the size of the Senedd, the voting system and constituency boundaries.

We also highlight that further action is needed in improving voters’ understanding of the new voting system, increasing awareness of accessibility support at polling stations, supporting 16- and 17-year-olds to participate, and that more needs to be done to support administrators as the system remains under pressure. We are also calling for action to address the risk of misinformation and to keep candidates safe from abuse and intimidation.

Other findings include:

• voter turnout was 51.7%, up from 46.8% in 2021 and the first time turnout has passed 50% at a Senedd election
• most voters were satisfied with the voting process and confidence in the running of the elections remained high
• understanding of the new closed party list voting system was mixed, with nearly one in three people saying they were not confident they understood it
• disabled voters generally reported positive experiences, but awareness of support available in polling stations remained low. The Commission and the wider electoral community still need to do more to raise awareness of the support and equipment available in polling stations
• candidates were broadly positive about the process of standing for election, but abuse and intimidation remained at an unacceptable level with responses to our survey indicating female candidates were more likely to have experienced this
• more than half of people surveyed said they had seen misinformation, and 12% said they had seen deepfake photos, videos or audio clips relating to the elections
• electoral administrators delivered the polls effectively, but cross-boundary working, staffing, supplier issues and future legislative change continue to create pressure

Our recommendations

The improvements we identified to support participation and trust in elections include:

• urging the Welsh Government to consider how its automatic voter registration system could allow for integration with any future UK-wide system, and for the UK Government to engage with and take account of the Welsh Government’s plans as they develop a UK-wide approach
• improving awareness of the accessibility support available at polling stations, including clearer information online, offline, on poll cards and in polling stations
• considering setting out the roles and responsibilities of constituency returning officers and deputy returning officers in legislation to manage increased cross-boundary working across local authority boundaries
• providing sufficient clarity and funding to support administrators so they can cope with ongoing and future legislative changes
• increasing flexibility of the process of amending spending return forms so they can be easier to understand and complete
• calling for political parties to support the development of a campaigning code of conduct and incorporate it into their membership and disciplinary policies
• calling for social media companies to do more to tackle online abuse of candidates and for the UK Government to create a clearer new overarching duty on social media companies to cover a wider range of risks to election and protect legitimate political debate
• improved coordination between the Senedd Commission, Electoral Commission, Welsh Government, Electoral Management Board for Wales and Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru on future election communications, including reviewing the role and functionality of vote.wales
• calling on the Welsh Government to work with the Commission and others on the roll-out of a democratic education framework for Wales
• encouraging all the UK’s governments to work together to develop shared technical and operational capabilities to protect the election information environment from mis- and disinformation, including deepfakes
• updating electoral law to reflect new threats to election information and requiring social media platforms and online information services to develop fit-for-purpose policies to protect election information and limit the spread of mis- and disinformation

We are ready to work with the Welsh Government, UK Government, Electoral Management Board for Wales, electoral administrators, political parties, social media platforms and civil society organisations in delivering these recommendations. We are committed to the importance of implementing any changes in enough time for the electoral community to prepare in advance of future elections.

You can read our findings and recommendations in full in our report.

We also published separate reports on the Scottish Parliament and English local elections. As in Wales, we found that the polls were well-run with voters and campaigners reporting high levels of confidence in the electoral processes. However further action is needed on addressing misinformation and to keep candidates safe from abuse.

We have published updated guidance for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) setting out the required actions to take once automatic registration is introduced in Wales.

Please note that the proposed legislative changes are not yet in force. However, we have published this guidance in advance to support your planning and preparations.

The introduction of automatic voter registration will mean that EROs in Wales must:

• as a minimum, undertake a data matching exercise to identify unregistered electors at least once a year
• send a notice of registration to those unregistered electors identified, giving them a 28-day notification period in which they can opt out of the automatic registration for prescribed reasons
• add those unregistered electors who have not opted out of the local government register with a J marker, once the 28-day notification period has concluded.

To meet the requirements, the data matching process must start before the end of each calendar year.

The guidance has been prepared on the basis that the draft regulations are approved in their current form, and the legislation will come into force on the day after it is made by Welsh Ministers. The exact date that the legislative changes will come into force is still to be confirmed, however the Senedd’s earliest opportunity to approve the draft regulations will be during the week commencing 19 October 2026. This means that, if the legislation comes into force as expected this year, EROs will be required to begin the data matching process before the end of 2026.

We will continue to monitor the progress of the legislation and will confirm via the EA Bulletin when the new automatic voter registration regulations are in force.

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

We have updated our postal and proxy application forms ahead of the new rules coming into force and online absent vote applications being introduced for Senedd and local council elections from 3 November 2026.

The changes are:

• The removal of Electoral Commission, Wales (EC) branding and references to the EC, Wales. This is intended to minimise confusion and reduce the risk of completed forms being mistakenly returned to EC offices close to application deadlines
• Inclusion of ‘middle name’ field to match the registration forms
• A new GB wide postal vote application form. There will still be a separate postal vote application form for overseas voters
• Proxy application forms will still be split by nation and will still include the text ‘This form applies only in Wales’
• Supporter details and declarations have been condensed, where possible

You can view some sample copies on our website to help you prepare. These samples are final copies, but do not include all of the proxy application forms.

All of the updated forms will be available to voters from 3 November 2026. 

We would be grateful if you could remind your printers to periodically delete and redownload all party emblems - a link to the latest emblem zip file can be found on our website. The Registration team at the Commission conducts maintenance on party emblems, for example replacing an emblem for a higher quality image version, and steps are taken in these cases to keep the registered emblem ID. We are aware of cases where the emblem ID not changing means that this is not picked up in regular emblem zip updates, and printers may be using out of date version of emblems as a result.

We are currently recruiting to the following position in our Electoral Performance team:

• Senior Adviser, Electoral Performance (Closing date 28 September 23:59; Location: Cardiff, Belfast, Edinburgh (Hybrid – min. 2 days in office), or Remote UK)

The Electoral Performance team is responsible for developing and maintaining the Commission's performance standards for Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers. You will be joining us at an exciting time as we develop the future approach to monitoring electoral performance. You will have the opportunity to shape new frameworks, tools and ways of working that will influence how electoral performance is measured and supported across the UK for years to come.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Amy Symons, Electoral Performance Manager.

For further information or to apply, please visit the Commission’s job portal.