Cyflwynwyd yr ymateb hwn i ymgynghoriad y Pwyllgor Biliau Diwygio ar Fil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau).

This response was submitted to the Reform Bill Committee consultation on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill.

SCME49 Ymateb gan:  | Response from:  Michelle Williams
_____________________________________________________________________________________

As a resident of Ceredigion I have reservations about the following

Change the Senedd’s electoral system so that all Members are elected via closed list proportional representation, with votes translated into seats via the D’Hondt formula.

Repurpose and rename the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales; provide the renamed Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (DBCC) with the functions needed to establish new Senedd constituencies and undertake ongoing reviews of Senedd constituency boundaries; and provide instructions for the DBCC to follow when undertaking boundary reviews.

    I am unhappy that all future Sennedd elections, that I may participate voting in, will no longer be for a specified candidate.

   I believe this is will lead to anger, frustration and confusion in the electorate and I am concerned about how constitutional this proposal is?

    It is unreasonable that political parties will have a free hand to appoint AM’s from an undemocratic list, it seems to be introducing proportional representation by stealth. For an issue of this magnitude and the ‘on’ costs it should have been put before the electorate in the form of a referendum.

    It is important, and part of our human rights, that we the electorate can listen to and read about the candidates beliefs, principals and vision then we can cast our vote based on our judgement of this information.

    I have looked at the map of the proposed changes to the existing constituency boundaries and I fail to see how they will benefit the electorate. It seems extremely weighted to the Valley areas of south Wales and as such rather disappointing and disproportionate. Again this issue should have been part of a referendum it’s so important the opinions of the residents should have been sought and should not have been a ‘political party’ decision as this means it’s not truly representative of all of Wales residents.

My conclusion is that I oppose both of these parts of the Sennedd reform 2023.

Michelle Williams