Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the delivery of the commitments made by the Member in charge of the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill regarding the Electoral Commission's responsibilities during the Bill's Stage 3 proceedings, as seen in paragraph 468 of the Plenary Record for minutes on 4 July 2024?
I have inferred that the Member is asking about 2 July 2024, rather than 4 July as stated in the question. During that debate the then Counsel General, Mick Antoniw, communicated the Welsh Government’s commitment for people to be able to participate fully in our democracy using our country’s two official languages.
Since July 2024 work has continued to support the bilingual delivery of Welsh elections, both at Senedd and local government level.
The Welsh Government has strengthened Welsh language requirements by making, for the first time, a fully bilingual set of Senedd election rules (The Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025).
Recent amendments to local election rules (The Local Elections (Wales) (Amendment) Rules 2026) included clarifying the need for bilingual declaration of results and improved bilingual template forms.
We work closely to promote the use of Welsh in elections with the Electoral Management Board and the Electoral Commission, who monitor the performance of Returning Officers through Performance Standards, including Welsh language requirements. In recent months, this shared endeavour has included support for consistent bilingual declarations of results, North and South Wales Returning Officer workshops with Welsh language sessions, an updated glossary of electoral terminology, and practical support for greater visibility of Welsh-speaking polling station staff.