VOTERS up and down the country will head to the polls next month for the first bumper crop of elections since the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Many contests are set to take place on May 6, dubbed “Super Thursday”, including some that were postponed from last year because of COVID-19.

In Wales, voters will be choosing who to represent them in Welsh Parliament, while residents will also decide who they want to take up the post of Police and Crime Commissioner for their local force.

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The scale of Super Thursday means that every voter will be able to take part in at least one type of poll, making it the biggest event of its kind outside a general election.

An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: "This May, voters across Great Britain will be going to the polls to vote and choose the people that make decisions which can impact their day to day lives.

"There are several ways for people to vote – you can choose to vote at a polling station, by post, or by appointing someone you trust to vote as a proxy on your behalf."

Anyone wanting to have their say must be registered to vote by midnight on Monday, April 19, while 5pm on April 20 is the final deadline for postal vote applications.

With that voter registration deadline looming, we've taken a look at what voter turnout was like across our area five years ago…

Using Electoral Commission data from the last Senedd election in 2016, Wrexham’s two constituencies [Wrexham / Clwyd South] showed lower than average turnout:

In the constituency of Wrexham, 51,500 people in the constituency were eligible to vote, with 20,400 of them returning valid ballot papers.

That was a turnout of 39.5 per cent, which was lower than the Wales average of 45.4 per cent.

Around 5,600 postal votes were included in the count, while 91 votes were rejected, which can occur if a paper is not marked properly or has been spoiled.

Including rejected votes, the ballot boxes in Wrexham that year were filled by 39.7 per cent of voters.

The same batch of Electoral Commission data shows that 54,200 people in the Clwyd South constituency were eligible to vote in 2016, with 22,200 of them returning valid ballot papers.

That was a turnout of 40.9 per cent, which was also lower than the national Wales average.

Around 6,100 postal votes were included in the count, while 123 votes were rejected, which can occur if a paper is not marked properly or has been spoiled.

If we were including rejected votes, the ballot box turnout in Clwyd South that year was 41.1 per cent. This is the highest out of all four constituencies analysed.

The two areas also saw lower turnouts for PCC elections in the same year.

Different figures show that 21,100 people in Clwyd South returned valid votes to elect the North Wales PCC – as just 38.9 per cent of those who were eligible to take part.

Likewise, in Wrexham, just 37 per cent of eligible voters took part returning 19,100 votes.

The two constituencies that form Flintshire [Alyn & Deeside / Delyn] also recorded a low turnout five years ago on polling day:

Using the same set of Electoral Commission data, it shows that 62,700 people in the constituency were eligible to vote in 2016, with just 21,700 of them returning valid ballot papers.

That was a turnout of 34.6 per cent – also lower than the Wales average by more than 10 per cent.

Around 6,600 postal votes were included in the count, while 142 votes were rejected.

Including rejected votes, the ballot box turnout in Alyn and Deeside that year was 34.8 per cent.

Neighbouring Delyn had 53,500 people in the constituency that were eligible to vote in the last round of elections – but just 23,200 of them returning valid ballot papers.

That was a turnout of 43.3 per cent.

This, like all local constituencies, was lower than the Wales average but the highest turnout locally when comparing to the four Wrexham and Flintshire political battlegrounds.

Around 6,500 postal votes were included in the count, while 165 votes were rejected, which can occur if a paper is not marked properly or has been spoiled.

Including rejected votes, the ballot box turnout in Delyn that year was 43.6 per cent.

The two areas also saw lower turnouts for PCC elections in the same year.

Just 20,700 people in Alyn and Deeside returned valid votes at the North Wales PCC elections in 2016 – just slightly over a third [33.1 per cent] of those who were eligible to take part.

Likewise, 22,000 people in Delyn cast a valid vote – 41.1 per cent of those who were eligible to take part.