NEXT month's Assembly election will involve a mere 90 candidates and 11 parties in Gwent alone - and a complicated system that involves both first-past-the-post and proportional representation.

Here, the Argus answers the key questions about that voting system for the May 3 ballot.

WHEN DO I VOTE?
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on May 3. Your polling card will tell you where you can vote.

HOW DO I VOTE?
Every voter will have two ballot papers. One is for the relevant constituency - in Gwent that is Newport West, Newport East, Monmouth, Islwyn, Torfaen or Blaenau Gwent - when you vote for an individual. A second ballot paper is for the South Wales East regional list when you vote for a party. Unlike the last two Assembly elections, no candidate can stand in a constituency and on a regional list.

WHO GETS ELECTED?
The constituency seats will be decided by the first-past-the-post system, which is used in General Elections and is the traditional way of electing politicians in the UK. Simply, the candidate with the highest number of votes wins and becomes the Assembly Member.

The four regional seats are decided by a proportional representation formula known as the Additional Member System (AMS).

WHAT IS THE AMS?
The number of votes cast for each party on the electors' second ballot per region is counted first, then this total is divided by the number of constituency seats won by that party, plus one.

So if Party A wins 100 votes and has three constituency seats, its score is 25 (100 divided by three plus one).

If Party B wins 60 votes and has no constituency seats, its score is 60 (60 divided by nil plus one).

In that scenario, Party B would take the first of the regional seats.

The calculation is then repeated to decide the second, third and fourth AMs from the South Wales East list.

WHY IS THIS SYSTEM USED?
Experts believe that AMS means each party's representation in the Assembly reflects its share of the vote better than first-past-the-post. Smaller parties also have a better chance of winning a seat in this system, one reason there are so many candidates.