Daytime count 'will help public engage in election'

THE timing of the counts during next year's all-important Senedd election has been confirmed in a major announcement.

- ELLIE GOSLEY

The Senedd debating chamber in Cardiff.

(JONATHAN MYERS)

Voters across Wales will head to the polls on Thursday, May 7, to have their say on who they would like to represent them in an expanded Senedd through an entirely new voting system.

Wales' electoral management board has confirmed that votes cast will be counted during the daytime on the day after the poll. Returning officers, who are in charge of running elections in Wales, have been instructed to begin counting the votes after 9am on Friday, May 8, instead of overnight.

Counts will have to begin before 11am on the day after the election.

It is hoped the decision means more people will have the opportunity to keep up to date with developments as results are declared, rather than having to stay up all night. It will be the second time a daytime count has taken place for a Senedd election, the first time being the last election in 2021.