Five things to know about how the Conservatives will choose a new leader

OTTAWA — Conservative party members are in the process of selecting a new leader, with the winner to be announced on May 27.

Here’s five things to know about how the vote works.

1) There are 14 names on the ballot — including Kevin O’Leary, as he dropped out too late to be taken off.

2) There are 259,010 party members eligible to vote. In the last leadership race, about 40 per cent of the members at the time actually did. Members must get their votes by May 26 if by mail, or they can vote in person on May 27.

3) It’s one member, one vote, but not to choose the winner. Each of the 338 federal ridings in Canada is allocated 100 points. How many points each candidate gets is determined by what percentage of the vote they get in a given riding. To win, a candidate will need 16,901 points.

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4) It’s a ranked ballot. Party members can choose up to 10 people they’d like to see as leader, ranking them from first to last. But even if they only choose one, that ballot will still be counted.

5) Second choices matter. Ranked ballots are counted in rounds. If in the first round no candidate gets the majority, the person with the lowest number of points is removed from the ballot. Those who voted for that person will now have their ballots counted again, with their second choice now counted. The process continues until a winner is selected.

The Canadian Press