English: First of all, I'd like to thank the elections planning group for its work. My party was pleased to participate in that work. Despite some of the headlines around this group, it's important to bear in mind that the work of the group, and many of the recommendations in the report that's already been published focus mainly on the arrangements that should be put in place in order to ensure that the election can take place safely. I do have to say that it's difficult to anticipate a situation where Senedd elections would have to be postponed. Elections around the world have taken place from Belarus to the Basque Country, from Serbia to Singapore, and also in the United States most recently, where we were reminded in powerful terms of the importance of free elections and the power of people to raise their voice and use their vote, as the people of the United States did in choosing a new direction through the dark days of the pandemic. Having said that, as the experience of the past few months has demonstrated to us we can't take anything for granted. Therefore, it is reasonable that we should have the ability in Wales to respond to all scenarios that may face us, never mind how unlikely that may be now. The Ministers of Westminster already have those powers, and they were used in the case of local elections in England and in police and crime commissioner elections, which should have taken place in May of this year. And on that note, of course, it is disappointing, but not unexpected perhaps, to see that the UK Government has approached this issue in a non-compliant way, with Minister Chloe Smith writing to all returning officers whilst this planning group continued to meet - with the Conservative Party part of those discussions - to state that police and crime commissioners in Wales would proceed, come what way, without fully recognising the significance of the fact that we had planned a Welsh general election for next year, with the Police and Crime Committee's elections happening to fall on the same date because of the postponement this year. It appears that the UK Government's thinking is entirely different. Following the reluctance of the UK Government to consider any sort of change to police and crime commissioner elections, I understand that that had restricted the possible options considered by the group for introducing early-voting centres, extending the number of days where votes could take place, to facilitate voting for vulnerable groups, which is an idea that election administrators were fully supportive of. So, what's the Government's intention or the Government's view in terms of progressing this in light of the opposition of the UK Government in terms of doing the same with police and crime commissioners elections? I would like to hear from the First Minister on the possible impact of disagreement between the UK and Welsh Governments on proxy voting. Practically, I think the people of Wales will want us to ensure as much consistency as possible between the two elections, and that it should be as easy possible for people to participate, wherever the power for the franchise lies at the end of the day. It would be very strange, for example, if a proxy could be exercised on behalf of four or five people in Senedd elections, but only for two people in the police and crime commissioner elections. To conclude, the First Minister mentioned the possibility of legislation in January, which would extend the powers of the Llywydd to postpone the date of Senedd elections from the current month to up to six months. The Scottish Government has introduced similar legislation in the Scottish Parliament. It's appropriate that the Llywydd should continue to hold this power, representing the impartial nature of the function, but it's important that the Senedd has opportunity to fully scrutinise proposed legislation, so the sooner it's introduced to the Senedd, the better, in draft form. Scottish legislation includes provision for postal voting only in order to re-stage an election if the election in May had to be postponed. The report of the group in Wales didn't recommend this, so can the First Minister confirm whether similar provisions will appear in the Welsh Government's draft legislation? I would agree with the suggestion that a two-thirds majority should be required to pass any change, safeguarding the principle that there should be broad-ranging support beyond the party of Government in making any changes to electoral arrangements.
Welsh: Yn y lle cyntaf, hoffwn i ddiolch i aelodau'r grŵp cynllunio etholiadau am eu gwaith, ac roedd fy mhlaid i'n hapus iawn i gymryd rhan yn y gwaith hwnnw. Er gwaethaf rhai o'r penawdau sydd wedi bod o gwmpas y grŵp yma, mae'n bwysig cofio bod gwaith y grŵp a nifer o argymhellion yr adroddiad, sydd eisoes wedi ei gyhoeddi, yn canolbwyntio'n bennaf ar y trefniadau y dylid eu rhoi ar waith i sicrhau y gall yr etholiad fynd yn ei flaen, a hynny'n ddiogel. Mae'n rhaid dweud, mae'n anodd rhagweld sefyllfa lle byddai'n rhaid gohirio etholiadau'r Senedd erbyn hyn. Mae etholiadau wedi parhau o amgylch y byd yn ystod y misoedd diwethaf fel dŷn ni eisoes wedi clywed, o Belarus i Wlad y Basg, o Serbia i Singapore, ac wrth gwrs yn America yn fwyaf diweddar, lle atgoffwyd ni mewn modd pwerus iawn o bwysigrwydd etholiadau rhydd, a grym y bobl i ddefnyddio'u llais a bwrw'u pleidlais, fel y gwnaeth pobl yr Unol Daleithiau drwy ddewis cyfeiriad newydd yn nhywyllwch y pandemig. Er hynny, fel mae profiad y misoedd diwethaf wedi dangos i ni allwn ni ddim cymryd dim byd yn ganiataol. Felly, mae'n rhesymol bod gennym ni'r gallu yng Nghymru i ymateb i bob sefyllfa all ein hwynebu, waeth pa mor fychan yw'r tebygolrwydd o hynny bellach. Mae'r gallu hwnnw eisoes gan Weinidogion San Steffan, ac fe'i defnyddiwyd, wrth gwrs, yn achos etholiadau lleol yn Lloegr ac etholiadau comisiynwyr heddlu Cymru oedd i fod i fynd rhagddynt ym mis Mai eleni. Ac ar y nodyn hynny, wrth gwrs, mae'n siomedig, ond nad yn annisgwyl efallai, i weld bod Llywodraeth Prydain wedi dod at y mater yma mewn modd anghydweithredol, gyda'r Gweinidog Chloe Smith yn ysgrifennu at bob swyddog canlyniadau yng Nghymru tra oedd y grŵp cynllunio yma yn dal i gyfarfod - gyda'r Blaid Geidwadol yn rhan ohono fe - i ddatgan y byddai etholiadau comisiynwyr heddlu yng Nghymru yn mynd yn eu blaenau fel y cynlluniwyd, doed a ddelo, heb lawn gydnabod, mae'n ymddangos, arwyddocâd y ffaith mai etholiad cyffredinol Cymreig sydd gennym ni wedi'i gynllunio yng Nghymru y flwyddyn nesaf, gydag etholiadau'r comisiynwyr heddlu yn digwydd bod yn syrthio ar yr un pryd oherwydd y gohirio eleni. Mae'n ymddangos bod Llywodraeth Prydain mewn meddylfryd cwbl wahanol. Yn sgil cyndynrwydd Llywodraeth Prydain i ystyried unrhyw fath o newid i etholiadau'r comisiynwyr heddlu, deallaf fod hynny wedi cyfyngu ar yr opsiynau posib roedd y grŵp yn eu hystyried ar gyfer cyflwyno canolfannau pleidleisio cynnar, gan ymestyn, fel y clywsom ni, nifer y diwrnodau y bydd pleidleisio, i hwyluso pleidleisio i grwpiau bregus - syniad roedd y gweinyddwyr etholiad yng Nghymru yn llwyr gefnogol iddo. Beth yw bwriad Llywodraeth Cymru neu farn Llywodraeth Cymru o ran symud y syniad yma yn ei flaen yn wyneb gwrthwynebiad Llywodraeth Prydain o ran efelychu'r un peth gyda'r etholiadau comisiynwyr heddlu? Hoffwn i glywed, yn yr un modd, gan y Prif Weinidog, am yr effaith bosib o anghydweld rhwng Llywodraethau Cymru a Phrydain ar bleidleisiau procsi. Yn ymarferol, rwy'n credu bydd pobl Cymru am inni sicrhau cymaint o gysondeb rhwng y ddau etholiad, ac eu bod mor rhwydd â phosib i bobl gymryd rhan ynddynt, dim ots lle mae'r grym dros yr etholfraint yn gorwedd ar ddiwedd y dydd. Byddai'n rhyfedd iawn, er enghraifft, pe bai'r procsi'n gallu gweithredu ar ran pedwar neu bump o bobl yn etholiadau'r Senedd, ond dim ond ar gyfer dau o bobl yn etholiadau'r comisiynwyr heddlu. I gloi, mae'r Prif Weinidog yn sôn am y posibilrwydd o ddeddfwriaeth ym mis Ionawr i'r Senedd, a fyddai'n ymestyn gallu'r Llywydd i ohirio dyddiad etholiadau'r Senedd o'r mis presennol i hyd at chwe mis. Mae Llywodraeth yr Alban wedi cyflwyno deddfwriaeth debyg gerbron Senedd yr Alban. Heddiw, mae'n briodol mai'r Llywydd fyddai'n parhau i ddal y grym yma, gan adlewyrchu natur amhleidiol y swyddogaeth, ond mae'n bwysig bod y Senedd yn cael cyfle i graffu ar ddeddfwriaeth arfaethedig yn llawn, felly gorau po gynted i'w chyflwyno i'r Senedd mewn ffurf drafft. Mae deddfwriaeth yr Alban yn cynnwys darpariaeth ar gyfer pleidleisiau post yn unig ar gyfer ailgynnal etholiad petai'r etholiad ym mis Mai yn cael ei ohirio. Nid oedd adroddiad y grŵp yng Nghymru yn argymell hyn, felly gall y Prif Weinidog gadarnhau a fydd darpariaeth Mesur drafft Llywodraeth Cymru ynghylch pleidleisiau post? Byddwn i'n cytuno gyda'r awgrym y dylid rhoi amod dwy ran o dair i basio unrhyw newid, gan ddiogelu'r egwyddor y dylai fod yna gefnogaeth eang y tu hwnt i'r blaid lywodraethol i wneud unrhyw newid i drefniadau etholiadol.