Voting in Senedd elections

From May 2026, the Senedd will have 96 Members instead of 60.

Wales will have 16 constituencies. Each constituency will elect six Members of the Senedd. You will only vote once in Senedd elections, choosing a political party or independent candidate.  

The system used to allocate seats in the Senedd is the same system that was used to allocate regional seats at previous Senedd and Welsh Assembly elections.  

The more votes a political party or independent candidate gets, the more seats they will win. The people at the top of each political party’s list are elected first.  

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.  

The table below shows an example of this and how it changes in each round.

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’s votes would then be divided by two for the next round:  

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 B’s votes would then be divided by two for the next round.  

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’s original vote total (300) is now divided by three (1+2 seats they have already won).  

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 and Party C will win 1 seat.

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.   

From May 2026, wherever you live in Wales, six elected Members will represent your area.  

The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru created the new areas by pairing the 32 UK Parliament constituencies for Wales. They also considered local boundaries, road and transport links, and natural features like rivers and mountains.