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Welcome to Your Vote Week – Raising young people’s political awareness

This week is Welcome to Your Vote Week, a campaign by the Electoral Commission to spark campaigners across the UK to speak to students in schools and raise young people’s political awareness. Amidst a global...

Posted 02 Feb 2023

We have the opportunity to encourage first-time voter participation

We told the Welsh Government our suggestions for how to remove barriers to voting

Since elections were devolved to Wales in the Wales Act 2017 there have been a lot of changes for Welsh democracy. We’ve seen the extension of the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds and...

Posted 31 Jan 2023

ERS Cymru has long called for automatic voter registration

The 2022 Welsh Local Elections and the case for STV

On May 5th 2022 voters went to the polls in Wales to elect councillors for all 22 local authorities. These were not the only elections held that day; Northern Ireland held an Assembly election and...

Posted 15 Nov 2022

Time for Change The 2022 Welsh Local Elections and the Case for STV

Electoral Commission report calls for better political education in Wales

The Electoral Commission report on May 2022’s local elections in Wales, published yesterday, highlights that the extension of the franchise is only the first step in ensuring the participation of new groups of voters in...

Posted 22 Sep 2022

Only 22 percent of parents think that the information their children currently get is sufficient

Constitutional questions need answering to strengthen Welsh democracy

The debate about the UK’s constitutional arrangements has come to the fore in recent years. We’ve seen a Scottish referendum, with another possible next year, the UK’s exit from the European Union and more recently, the...

Posted 18 Aug 2022

There are three main areas where we think the Commission should make recommendations

Early indications suggest Welsh voting pilots went well

In May’s local elections, four areas in Wales trialled a different way of voting – allowing people to cast their vote before election day. As well as polling stations being open on the Thursday 5...

Posted 05 Aug 2022

We need to be looking at removing other barriers to voting in Wales

Success as Labour vote overwhelmingly to increase the size of the Senedd

Welsh Labour members voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to back a new package of reforms to modernise the Senedd. This is the culmination of nearly 20 years of discussions around reforming the Welsh Parliament, particularly in...

Posted 07 Jul 2022

A step closer to the full-time parliament Wales deserves

A big victory on Senedd reform

When Ron Davies described the idea of devolution as a ‘process not an event’ back in 1999 he had little idea his words would come to describe a quarter of a century of reform in...

Posted 16 Jun 2022

Wales can lead the way and deliver a parliament fit for the 21st Century

Reform of the Senedd has been discussed since its inception. When it opened in 1999 it had just 60 members, no government function and limited powers. While the powers of the Senedd and the function...

Posted 18 May 2022

We have a chance to create a new Welsh democracy Lets do it properly

Elections Cancelled: Over 100,000 Welsh voters to be denied a vote

With elections coming up across the country, campaigners across Wales are gearing up the familiar routine of doorstep conversations, leaflets through letterboxes and trying to convince voters that their candidate deserves to be re-elected, or...

Posted 13 Apr 2022