Gwynedd councillors are set to decide whether to use a different voting system for local elections.

A public consultation has backed proposals to ditch the first-past-the-post system and replace it with the so-called STV (single transferrable vote) system, also known as proportional representation.

Out of 882 responses, 72.2% backed switching systems while 24.8% want the status quo to be kept.

If councillors vote in favour of the proposals later this month, the STV system would be in place for the next council elections in 2027.

Welsh local authorities were given the option of changing voting systems as part of a wider package of democratic reforms, including the expansion of the Senedd from 60 to 96 members and the introduction of automatic voter registration.

Gwynedd is one of three Welsh councils who ran a public consultation on the issue - alongside Ceredigion and Powys.

The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) in Wales said the Gwynedd consultation proved there was "considerable public support" for a switch to STV.

Jess Blair, ERS Cymru director, said: "If Gwynedd votes to move to STV, the local authority would be joining Scotland and Northern Ireland who use the system for local elections already."

"Gwynedd Council elections have suffered for decades at the hands of the current electoral system. In the 2022, local elections 41% of seats in Gwynedd were uncontested, affecting over 20,000 voters in the area."

"Indeed, Gwynedd had more uncontested seats at the 2022 elections than the whole of Scotland has had since it made the move to STV in 2007."

"Councillors should take note of this groundswell in public support and vote to back a better democracy on the 24th of October."