EA Bulletin: 421 Wales

The Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026 have now been approved by the Senedd. Welsh Government has confirmed that the Regulations are being made today and will come into force tomorrow.  

As previously highlighted in EA bulletin 419, the introduction of automatic voter registration means 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. This means that EROs must begin the process before the end of 2026.

Our Automatic Voter Registration guidance is available to support implementation, and has just been updated following confirmation from Welsh Government regarding when to add identified electors to the local government register after the 28-day notice period ends.

The updated guidance clarifies that:

• If the 28-day notice period ends before the deadline for inclusion in the next monthly notice of alteration, electors will be added in that monthly update.  
• If the notice period ends after this deadline, they will be added in the following month’s notice of alteration.  

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

Following yesterday’s ‘go live’ date for online absent vote applications in Wales, we would like to remind you of EA bulletin 416 and our transitional guidance for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).

The transitional guidance covered:

• the discrepancies in existing absent voting arrangements that needed to be resolved
• the actions required to correct, remove or align records by 3 November 2026
• the actions to take as soon as practicable after 3 November 2026 to update records and notify electors

Updated absent voting guidance

Following commencement, we have now updated our absent voting guidance for EROs to reflect the new arrangements that came into force on 3 November 2026.

The updated guidance covers:

• the availability of online absent vote applications for all polls
• the requirement for all absent vote applications to include a National Insurance number, or another approved form of identity verification
• the new maximum three-year duration for new postal vote arrangements

Whilst the new rules and new guidance are now in place, the transitional guidance also covers follow-up activities, including updating records and notifying electors where required.

We will retain this transitional guidance until 31 January 2027 to support EROs in completing any outstanding post-implementation actions.

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

As outlined in EA Bulletin: 419, we have updated our postal vote and proxy vote application forms to reflect the new rules and the introduction of online applications for Senedd and local council elections, which came into force on 3 November 2026.  

The updated forms are now available on the Postal voting and Proxy voting pages of our website. Templates have also been shared with EMS suppliers and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to support integration with the ERO Portal.

Updated postal and proxy voting resources are now available on the Electoral Commission website. These reflect the new rules and the introduction of online applications for Senedd and local council elections.  

Find our updated resources on our website, which include:

• posters
• a flyer
• a press FAQ
• social media graphics and template posts
• web banners
• template copy for websites and newsletters 

You can find further resources to support democratic engagement on our website.

If you have any questions about our resources, please contact [email protected] 

Welcome to Your Vote Week is returning for 2027, taking place 8 March – 14 March, and you’re invited to take part.  

What is Welcome to Your Vote Week?  

Welcome to Your Vote Week is the Electoral Commission’s annual awareness raising week for democratic education.    

It’s a chance for schools, youth groups and anyone who works with young people to celebrate democracy and learn about democracy, voting and elections.    

There are lots of ways to get involved in the week, from organising a democracy event or registration drive with young people in your area, to sharing information about voting and elections on social media.  

Explore how organisations got involved in Welcome to Your Vote Week in 2026  

We’ll be sharing all the information and resources you need to take part in the week in January 2027 so remember to sign up to our Welcome to Your Vote Week mailing list to be among the first to receive this.  

We will also be holding a webinar on Thursday 26 November 11am – 12pm. This will be a chance to learn more about the week and discover ways your organisation can get involved.  Please register here.

Look what we achieved together in 2026  

We estimate that in Wales alone, Welcome to Your Vote Week 2026 reached:    

• 13,100+ young people  
• 98+ educators and partner    

And among those who completed our surveys:    

• 83% of young people said they were more likely to register to vote.  
• 86% of educators said the confidence of the young people they worked with to engage in democracy had increased.    

We want to reach even further in 2027 so please spread the word about the week so more young people can get the information they need to feel confident to participate in UK democracy.  

Keen to get started? Take a look at our range of education resources available for free on our website.

If you have any questions, please email  

[email protected] or [email protected]