Elections 2022: Polls to open in Welsh council elections

Polls will open on Thursday morning to elect councillors for Wales' 22 local authorities.

A total of 1,160 seats will be up for grabs - about 2.2 million people can take part, including 16 and 17-year-olds for the first time in a council election.

Polling stations will open from 07:00 BST and will close at 22:00.

Councils will begin counting on Friday, with results expected through the afternoon into the evening.

Council elections are also taking place in Scotland and parts of England, while voters are also electing the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Estimates suggest more than 106,000 Welsh voters will not have a vote this year because their local wards are uncontested - where the number of people who have applied to be councillors is the same as the number of seats available.

Analysis from the Electoral Reform Society said 74 of Wales' 1,234 seats have already been filled, meaning no election will take place in those areas.

Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire have the most uncontested seats with 28 and 19 respectively.

There will be coverage of the results across BBC Wales' online, television and radio services throughout Friday.

Wards are elected through the first past the post system - the winners are the candidates who win the most votes.

Voters will get a ballot paper to select which candidates they want to back. If there is more than one councillor in a ward voters will get more than one vote.

Early voting has already been taking place in Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly and Torfaen in a pilot scheme.

Postal votes will also be counted on Friday.