Of the 678,702 members eligible to vote, the party received 437,854 ballots by Tuesday’s deadline – about a 65 percent turnout. This is the same turnout recorded in the 2020 leadership election. “The Conservatives of Canada continue to set records in 2022,” said Rob Baderson, party president. “This is the largest number of Canadians to vote in a leadership election — of any political party — in our country’s history. Canadians are clearly turning to the Conservatives to bring change to Canada.” The party said 417,987 ballots would be counted after about 20,000 ballots were found incomplete. To vote, the party requires members to send a copy of their photo ID. Not all ballots were returned with a photocopy of a card or other eligible document showing a member’s name, photograph and address. The party said the rejection rate is “slightly lower than previous leadership races”. To avoid a repeat of the last leadership race when technical problems delayed the final result until the early hours of the morning, the party has already started feeding ballots through its machines. The final draw will take place on Saturday with the result expected shortly after 6pm ET. 1:53:00 FULL EPISODE: Who should lead the Conservative Party of Canada? The Conservative Party of Canada will decide its next leader in a few days. The decision will affect the fortunes of this party in the next election, and possibly politics as a whole in this country for years to come. In each filing round, the party will announce the number of points each candidate received. Under the party’s leadership rules, elections are conducted through a points system that gives all ridings equal weight. Points are allocated proportionally according to the vote in each constituency, with each riding entitled to 100 points (provided there are at least 100 acceptable votes from that constituency). To win, a candidate must score at least a few points in every region of the country — a system designed to ensure representation from regions like Atlantic Canada and Quebec, where there are comparatively fewer conservative members. Members use a preferential ballot where they rank in order of preference. There are five options to choose from in this election: Conservative MPs Scott Aitchison, Pierre Poilievre and Leslyn Lewis, former Quebec premier Jean Charest and former Ontario MP Roman Baber. Brampton, Ont. Mayor Patrick Brown, who dropped out of the race this summer, will also appear on the ballot. Three other would-be candidates, including two anti-abortion candidates, were disqualified by the party’s leadership election organizing committee (LEOC) before the race began. This prompted some socially conservative members to claim that “corruption” was to blame. LEOC chairman Ian Brodie said in a statement on Thursday that he was “thrilled about the smooth process despite this unprecedented amount of interest in taking part in this leadership election”.
