Swansea Bay heads to the polls for the Senedd and Police and Crime Commissioner elections

Polling stations right across the Swansea Bay region opened at 7am with people voting to elect members of the Senedd as well as police and crime commissioners.

16 and 17 year olds and foreign nationals living in Wales are also able to vote for the first time – but only in the Senedd election.

Voters are encouraged to bring their own pens or pencils to fill in their ballot papers, but there will also be pens available at polling stations.

There are two ballot papers for the Senedd election – one to choose a constituency member and the other to elect a regional list member.

In the constituency vote, the candidate with the most votes wins, known as the ‘first past the post’ system – the same as the UK general elections.

In the regional vote, people are elected according to the share of the vote, a mathematical formula that discounts party’s that have already won constituency seats.

In the police and crime commissioner election, you can vote for a first and second choice candidate.

A candidate needs at least 50% of the vote to win, otherwise all candidates except the top two are eliminated. If your candidate is eliminated, then your second choice is counted.

In Swansea, there are also two council bi-elections taking place – in Castle Ward and Llansamlet Ward.

In Mumbles, there’s two community council bi-elections as well – in Mayals Ward and Oystermouth Ward.

Polls close at 10pm.

Still struggling to decide who to vote for?

We asked all candidates standing for the Senedd what they would bring to their communities if elected. You can take a look at what they told us on our election pages.

Counting starts on Friday 7 May for the Senedd elections, and Sunday 9 May for the Police and Crime Commissioner vote.

We’ll have all the results for you as they’re announced here on Swansea Bay News.

(Lead image: Swansea Council / Dyfed Powys Police)