Senedd Cymru Elections

The Senedd Cymru Elections will be held on Thursday 6 May 2021.

The Regional Returning Officer (RRO) for the South Wales Central Electoral Region is Debbie Marles. The RRO will administer the nomination process and after the verification and counts are completed by the Constituency Returning Officers, will calculate the regional result and declare the allocation of seats.

Regional Returning Officer: Rob Thomas

Update: South Wales Central Regional Returning Officer, Debbie Marles, has confirmed that local constituency counts will be completed on Friday 7 March; however the local regional counts will be postponed until Saturday 8 May, commencing at 9am.

Should you have any queries, please contact:

Rachel Starr-Wood, Electoral Registration Manager

rmstarr-wood@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

01446 709304

Hayley Hanman, Electoral Registration Deputy

hhanman@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

01446 709345

There are five Senedd Electoral Regions:

South Wales Central
South Wales East
South Wales West
Mid and West Wales
North Wales.

South Wales Central cover the administrative areas of three Unitary Authorities:

Cardiff - Scheduled Elections and Polls
Rhondda Cynon Taf - Notice of upcoming Elections
Vale of Glamorgan.

The Regional Returning Officer will be assisted in her duties by three Constituency Returning Officers (CRO’s) in the other authorities who are also subject to national legislative requirements and guidance.

Regional Returning Officer Role

The Regional Returning Officer is responsible for the overall conduct of the Senedd elections for the South Wales Central Region, and for liaising with the Constituency Returning Officer’s in the South Wales Central Region. The Regional Returning Officer is also responsible for giving notice of the election, the nomination procedure, encouraging participation, ensuring that the candidate’s election addresses requirements and the procedures for submitting those addresses are complied with, the collation of local totals, the calculation of the result and finally the declaration of the result.

Candidates and Agents

We will in due course provide essential information for Candidates and Agents, and this will be updated shortly to include the nomination pack.

On Tuesday 2 March at 18:00 via Microsoft Teams a representative from the Electoral Commission and the Regional Returning Officer will be hosting a Candidate’s and Agent’s briefing session, providing an overview of the role of a Member of the Senedd. The briefing session will provide vital information for potential Candidates and their Agents including the nomination procedure, polling information, the verification and count process, candidate spending and election expenses, and finally, the role and responsibilities of a Member of the Senedd and arrangements for the declaration of acceptance of office for the elected candidates.

Timetable

Timetable
Event	Working days before poll (deadline if not midnight)	Date (deadline if not midnight)
Publication of notice of election	Not later than 25 days	22 March 2021
Delivery of nomination papers	Between the hours of 9am and 5pm on any day after the publication of the notice of election until 5pm on the 19th day before polling day	Between 9am and 5pm on any working day after publication of notice of election and until 5pm on Thursday 8 April
Deadline for delivery of nomination papers	19 days (4pm)	4pm on Thursday 8 April
Making objections to nomination papers	Between 9am and 5pm on any working day after publication of notice of election and until 5pm on Thursday 8 April	Between 9am and 5pm on any working day after publication of notice of election and until 5pm on Thursday 8 April
Deadline for withdrawals	19 days (4pm)	4pm on Thursday 8 April
Deadline for the notification of appointment of election agent	19 days (4pm)	4pm on Thursday 8 April
Publication of first interim election notice of alteration	19 days	Thursday 8 April
Publication of statement of persons nominated, including notice of poll and situation of polling stations	Not later than 18 days (4pm)	Not later than 4pm on Friday 9 April
Deadline for receiving applications for registration	12 days	Monday 19 April
Deadline for receiving new postal vote and postal proxy applications, and for changes to existing postal or proxy votes	11 days (5pm)	5pm on Tuesday 20 April
Deadline for receiving new applications to vote by proxy (not postal proxy or emergency proxies)	6 days (5pm)	5pm on Tuesday 27 April
Publication of second interim election notice of alteration	Between 18 days and 6 days	Between Friday 9 April and Tuesday 27 April (inclusive)
Publication of final election notice of alteration	5 days	Wednesday 28 April
Deadline for notification of appointment of polling agents, counting agents and sub-agents	5 days	Wednesday 28 April
First date that electors can apply for a replacement for lost postal votes	4 days	Thursday 29 April
Polling day	0 (7am to 10pm)	7am to 10pm on Thursday 6 May
Last time that electors can apply for a replacement for spoilt or lost postal votes	0 (5pm)	5pm on Thursday 6 May
Deadline for emergency proxy applications	0 (5pm)	5pm on Thursday 6 May
Last time to alter the register due to clerical error or court appeal	0 (9pm)	9pm on Thursday 6 May

Voting system

Constituency members - Constituency members are elected using the first past the post system. The candidate on the ballot who polls the most votes is elected.

Regional members - Regional members are elected by a form of proportional representation known as the 'Additional Member System’, with electors voting for a political party. The method is clearly explained on the Senedd Cymru website.

Who can vote on polling day?

For Senedd Cymru elections, you must be:

Registered to vote visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or contact the Vale of Glamorgan Council.
Sixteen or over on the day of the election (‘polling day’).
A British, Irish, or qualifying Commonwealth citizen*.
A qualifying foreign citizen who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who doesn’t need such permission.

Don’t forget that 16 and 17 year olds can now vote in Senedd Cymru elections for the first time.

Verification and Count

The verification and count of the Senedd Cymru Election will be conducted at local counting centres with the Regional Hub based at the Memo Arts Centre, 7 Gladstone Road, Barry, CF62 8NA, where the declaration of the final result of the election will be held. The process to be followed requires local declarations of the result in each constituency area followed by a collated overall result for South Wales Central Region.

There will be two count venues:

Memo Arts Centre

Gladstone Road

Barry

CF62 8NA

Barry Leisure Centre

Greenwood Street

Barry

CF63 4JJ

Verification and Count Venues

Timetable of Verification and Count

The verification of the Senedd Election Cymru will commence from 9.00am on Friday 07 May 2021.