Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024

PART 2 VOTING SYSTEM AT SENEDD GENERAL ELECTIONS AND ALLOCATION OF SEATS

8 General elections

For sections 6 to 9 of the 2006 Act (voting and seat allocation at general elections) substitute—

“6 Voting at general elections

(1) Each person entitled to vote at a general election in a Senedd constituency may give a vote for—

(a) a registered political party that has submitted a list of candidates to be Members of the Senedd for the constituency, or

(b) an individual who is a candidate (“an individual candidate”) to be a Member of the Senedd for the constituency.

(2) An order under section 13 must provide for the ballot paper used at a general election in a Senedd constituency to include the names of the candidates who stand nominated to be Members of the Senedd for the constituency.

(‍3) In this Act “registered political party” means a party registered under Part 2 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. ‍41).

7 Candidates at general elections

(1) A registered political party may submit a list of candidates to be Members of the Senedd for a particular Senedd constituency at a general election.

(2) The list must be submitted to the constituency returning officer.

(3) The list must not include more than eight people (but may include only one).

(4) The list must not include a person—

(a) who is included on another list submitted under this section (whether for the constituency or another constituency);

(b) who is an individual candidate to be a Member of the Senedd (whether for the constituency or another constituency).

(5) A person may not be an individual candidate to be a Member of the Senedd for a constituency if that person is—

(a) included on a list submitted under this section (whether for the constituency or another constituency);

(b) an individual candidate to be a Member of the Senedd for another constituency.

(6) In this Act “constituency returning officer”, in relation to a Senedd constituency, means the person designated as the returning officer for the constituency in accordance with an order under section 13 (power of the Welsh Ministers to make provision about elections etc.).

8 Calculation of seat allocation figures

(1) This section and section 9 are about the allocation, to registered political parties or individual candidates, of the seats for a Senedd constituency at a general election.

(2) For each registered political party by which a list of candidates has been submitted under section 7 (candidates at general elections) for the constituency—

(a) the votes given in the constituency for the party are to be added up, and

(b) the number arrived at under paragraph (a) is to be divided by the seat allocation divisor.

(3) On the first calculation for a party under subsection (2)(b), the seat allocation divisor for the party is one (section 9 makes provision about recalculations under that subsection with an increased divisor).

(4) For each individual candidate to be a Member of the Senedd for the constituency, the votes given in the constituency for the candidate are to be added up.

(5) The number arrived at—

(a) in the case of a registered political party, under subsection (2)(b), or

(b) in the case of an individual candidate, under subsection (4),

is referred to in section 9 as the “seat allocation figure” for that party or individual candidate.

9 Allocation of seats

(1) The first seat for a Senedd constituency is to be allocated to the registered political party or individual candidate with the highest seat allocation figure.

(2) The second and subsequent seats for the constituency are to be allocated to the party or individual candidate with the highest seat allocation figure after any recalculation required by subsection (3) has been carried out.

(3) This subsection requires a recalculation of the seat allocation figure for a registered political party—

(a) for the first application of subsection (2), if the application of subsection (1) resulted in the allocation to the party of a seat for the constituency, or

(b) for any subsequent application of subsection (2), if the previous application of that subsection resulted in the allocation to the party of a seat for the constituency,

and each recalculation is to be carried out under section 8(2)(b) after adding one to the previous seat allocation divisor for that party.

(4) An individual candidate already allocated a seat as a Member of the Senedd for the constituency is to be disregarded when applying subsection (2).

(5) Seats for the constituency that are allocated to a party are to be filled by the candidates on the party’s list in the order in which they appear on the list.

(6) Once a party’s list has been exhausted (by the application of subsection (1) or (2)), the party is to be disregarded when applying subsection (2).

(7) If, on the application of subsection (1) or on an application of subsection (2), the highest seat allocation figure is the seat allocation figure for two or more parties or individual candidates (referred to in subsection (8) as the “tied seat allocation figure”), subsection (1) or (2) (as the case may be) applies to each of them.

(8) But if subsection (7) would mean that more than the full number of seats for the constituency were allocated, subsection (1) or (2) is not to be applied until—

(a) a recalculation of the seat allocation figure for any party with the tied seat allocation figure has been carried out under section 8(2)(b) after adding one to the number arrived at under section 8(2)(a), and

(b) one has been added to the number arrived at under section 8(4) for any individual candidate with the tied seat allocation figure.

(9) If, after that, the highest seat allocation figure is still the seat allocation figure for two or more parties or individual candidates (so it is still the case that more than the full number of seats for the constituency would be allocated), the constituency returning officer must decide between them by lots.”

9 Vacant seats

(1) The 2006 Act is amended as follows.

(2) Omit section 10 (constituency vacancies).

(3) For section 11 (electoral region vacancies) substitute—

“11 Vacant seats

(1) This section makes provision about what is to happen if the seat of a Member of the Senedd becomes vacant.

(2) If the Member was an individual candidate when returned as a Member of the Senedd, the seat remains vacant until the next general election.

(3) If the Member was returned as a Member of the Senedd from a list submitted under section 7 by a registered political party, the constituency returning officer must notify to the Presiding Officer the name of the person (if any) who is to fill the vacancy.

(4) A person’s name may be notified under subsection (3) only if the person—

(a) is included on the list mentioned in subsection (3),

(b) is willing to serve as a Member of the Senedd, and

(c) is not a person to whom subsection (5) applies.

(5) This subsection applies to a person if—

(a) the person is not a member of the registered political party that submitted the list, and

(b) the party gives notice to the constituency returning officer that the person’s name is not to be notified to the Presiding Officer as the name of the person who is to fill the vacancy.

(6) But if there is more than one person who satisfies the conditions in subsection (4), the constituency returning officer may only notify the name of whichever of them was the higher, or the highest, on the list.

(7) If there is no-one who satisfies the conditions in subsection (4), the seat remains vacant until the next general election.

(8) A person whose name is notified under subsection (3) is to be treated as having been declared to be returned as a Member of the Senedd on the day on which notification of the person’s name is received by the Presiding Officer.

(9) For the purposes of this section, a person included on the list mentioned in subsection (3)—

(a) who was returned as a Member of the Senedd at the election for which the list was submitted (even if the return was void), or

(b) who was subsequently returned as a Member of the Senedd under this section (even if the return was void),

is treated on and after their return as not having been included on the list.”

10 Related amendments

(1) The 2006 Act is amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (8).

(2) In section 12 (entitlement to vote)—

(a) in subsection (1), omit “(or of a Member of the Senedd)”;

(b) in subsection (2)—

(i) in paragraph (a) for “constituency vote, or more than one electoral region vote,” substitute “vote”;

(ii) after paragraph (a) insert “or”;

(iii) omit paragraph (c), and the “or” before it.

(3) In section 13 (power of the Welsh Ministers to make provision about elections etc.)—

(a) in subsection (2)—

(i) omit paragraph (e) (but not the “and” after it);

(ii) in paragraph (f), for “region” substitute “constituency”;

(b) in subsection (3), for “11(3) to (5)” substitute “11(4) to (6)”.

(4) In section 13A (power of the Secretary of State to make provision about the combination of polls), in subsection (1)(b) omit “, and by-elections for the return of Members of the Senedd,”.

(5) In section 18 (effect of disqualification), in subsection (A1) omit “or an election to fill a vacancy under section 10”.

(6) In section 36 (integrity)—

(a) omit subsection (6);

(b) in subsection (11)(a) omit “(apart from those in subsection (6))”.

(7) In section 159 (index of defined expressions), omit the entries for the following expressions—

(a) “constituency vote”;

(b) “electoral region figure”;

(c) “electoral region vote”;

(d) “regional returning officer”;

(e) “Senedd constituency member”;

(f) “Senedd electoral region”;

(g) “Senedd regional member”.

(8) In the table in Part 2 of Schedule 1A (offices that disqualify the holder), in the entry for returning officers for Senedd elections, in the second column omit “or Senedd electoral region”.

(9) In section 7B(6) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) (notional residence: declarations of local connection)—

(a) in paragraph (a)(ii), omit “or National Assembly for Wales constituency”;

(b) in paragraph (b), omit “or section 10 of the Government of Wales Act 2006”.

(10) In the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41)—

(a) omit section 4A(8)(b)(ii) (devolved Welsh functions);

(b) omit section 5(2A)(c) (reports on by-elections) (but not the “or” after it);

(c) from the section 6ZA inserted by the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (anaw 1), omit subsection (2)(b) (reviews of devolved electoral matters in Wales);

(d) omit section 6A(5)(d) (attendance of representatives of Electoral Commission at elections);

(e) from the section 6G inserted by the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (code of practice on attendance of observers at devolved elections in Wales), omit subsection (2)(b);

(f) from the section 9AA inserted by the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (performance standards for devolved elections and referendums in Wales), omit subsection (6)(b)‍;

(g) in paragraph 25 of Schedule 1, in the sub-paragraph (2) inserted by the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (interpretation), from the definition of “devolved Welsh election” omit paragraph (b);

(h) in paragraph 6 of Schedule 9 (limits on campaign expenditure)—

(i) in sub-paragraph (1), omit “or regions”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (2), omit paragraph (b) and the “plus” that precedes it.

(11) In section 44(7) of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 (c. 22) (electoral area in relation to an election to the Senedd), for paragraph (b) substitute—

“(b) in relation to an election to Senedd Cymru, a Senedd constituency within the meaning of section 2 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Senedd constituencies);”.

(12) In section 6(3) of the National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 (nawm 4) (functions of the Commissioner)—

(a) after paragraph (c) insert “and”;

(b) omit paragraph (e), and the “and” before it.

(13) In Schedule 1 to the National Assembly for Wales (Remuneration) Measure 2010 (nawm 4) (disqualification from membership of Independent Remuneration Board)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(d)—

(i) omit “regional”;

(ii) for “electoral region vacancies” substitute “vacant seats”;

(b) in paragraph 3 for “subsection (3)” substitute “subsection (4)”.

(14) In the Wales Act 2014 (c. 29), omit section 2 (amendments of Part 1 of the 2006 Act).

(15) In Schedule 1 to the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (anaw 1), in paragraph 2(8)(c) omit the entries for the following expressions—

(a) “Senedd constituency member”;

(b) “Senedd electoral region”;

(c) “Senedd regional member”.