You can vote in Wales' council elections before…

You can vote in Wales' council elections before polling day in some areas

If you are voting in this year's council elections, in some areas of Wales you don't just have one day to mark your X in the box. Instead, a trial is taking place where people have a number of chances to vote before the traditional Thursday polling day.

The weekend just gone, as well as from May 3 and May 4 will all see chances for people in certain parts of Wales cast their vote, before the rest of Wales votes on Thursday, May 5. The elections are your chance to select local councillors who will then sit on your local council. Councillors make decisions about lots of issues, including sports and leisure facilities, parks, education services and how often your rubbish is collected.

The pilots in four councils are designed to offer flexibility on when and where you can vote and to see if voting can be made easier, in order to boost turnout, especially with young people. The early voting is taking place in Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly county borough, Torfaen and parts of Bridgend. You can get more politics news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.

Early voting is encouraged, but if you're a voter in one of these areas you can still visit a polling station as normal on Thursday, May 5, of do so by post or proxy if you prefer. You don't need to take your poll card with you to vote, but it can speed up the process. If you don’t live in one of these authority areas, you won’t be eligible to use an early voting centre.

The idea of the trial is to see if it increases turnout in areas where there has historically been a low level of voting. The Electoral Commission guidance says there might be people outside the early voting centres who will ask to talk to you about your experience of voting early. They’re there to help collect feedback to evaluate the process and provide recommendations to the Welsh Government, but you don't have to take part.