VOTERS will be able to cast their vote in three areas of Gwent earlier than usual as part of a voting experiment.

Next Thursday, May 5, the polls will open right across Wales - but Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, and Caerphilly are among the four local authorities piloting “advance voting.”

This allows people to vote early on different days to the traditional Thursday election day.

Here's where and when voters can cast their votes early in each area:

  • Caerphilly: Penallta House in Ystrad Mynach, between 10am and 4pm on Saturday, April 30, and the following day;
  • Torfaen: Pontypool Civic Centre, between 10am and 4pm on Saturday, April 30, and the following day;
  • Blaenau Gwent: Coleg Gwent's Ebbw Vale Learning Zone, between 8am and 4pm on Tuesday, May 3, and the following day.

Anyone registered to vote in the relevant county borough can cast their votes at these centres, regardless of where they live or where their usual polling station is.

The pilot is also being carried out in Bridgend.

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council returning officer Andrea Jones said: “The purpose of the schemes is to see if we can make it easier for people to vote by offering flexibility on when and where you can vote.

“The scheme will bring the ballot box closer to people’s day to day lives.

“This is the next step in ensuring elections in Wales are as accessible as possible and that everyone who wants to vote can vote.”

“The learning will be used to inform longer term improvements to the way people vote and help reduce the democratic deficit.”

The Welsh Government’s counsel general and constitution minister, Mick Antoniw, said:  “These pilots are another step in ensuring elections in Wales are as accessible as possible.

“We want it to be as easy as possible to vote, increasing turnout and creating political structures that are more representative of the people they serve.”

The Welsh Government announced that they intended to hold advanced voting pilot schemes back in November 2021.

This is another tweak to the elections system in Wales.

Last year saw the franchise extended at the Senedd election to allow 16- and 17-year-olds as well as all foreign nationals living in Wales, to vote.

The last local government elections in 2017 saw voter turnout of only 41 per cent.

Electoral Reform Society Cymru director, Jessica Blair said: “We know that we have to do more to tackle Wales’ democratic deficit and the pilots look set to be the first step in a big emphasis on this in Wales.

“These flexible voting pilots could be part of that picture, alongside better political education in schools and stronger public information campaigns.

“This feels like a really exciting time for innovation in our elections, bringing democracy much closer to where it should be in 2022. ”