At this month’s first full meeting of Bridgend Council – held yesterday – a Welsh Government-backed advanced voting pilot for the 2022 local elections was approved (pdf).
The pilot is being funded via a Welsh Government grant.
The pilot aims to increase voter turnout by trialling different methods of making voting more convenient. Bridgend, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly and Torfaen councils will be taking part.
Under the Bridgend pilot, polling stations will be open in seven wards on Tuesday (3rd May), Wednesday (4th May) as well as the usual polling day of Thursday (5th May).
Data from the 2017 local elections was used to determine the areas with the lowest turnouts. Following boundary reorganisation, the seven wards taking part are:
- Brackla East & Coychurch Lower
- Brackla East Central
- Brackla West
- Brackla West Central
- Cornelly
- Pyle, Kenfig Hill & Cefn Cribwr (the former Pyle and Cefn Cribwr wards)
- St Bride’s Minor & Ynysawdre (the former Bryncethin, Bryncoch, Sarn and Ynysawdre wards)
As well as electing county councillors, this pilot will cover elections to seven community councils – Brackla, Coychurch Lower, St. Bride’s Minor, Ynysawdre, Cornelly, Pyle and Cefn Cribwr.
Additionally, a polling station will be made available at Cynffig Comprehensive for 16 and 17-year-olds on Tuesday 3rd May. Cornelly was added to the advanced voting pilot list for this reason.
The voting age for local elections in Wales was lowered to 16 after the Local Government & Elections Act was passed by the Senedd in 2020.
