The expedited selection of a new Conservative party candidate to replace departing Okanagan-Coquihalla MP Stockwell Day is being called a “rigged” process by local party members who tried unsuccessfully to become candidates for the party’s nomination.

Penticton councillor Dan Albas, a member of the local Conservative association’s board of directors, won the nomination Tuesday against two opponents who were also members of the board.

But several other Tories who were not on the board allege they were deliberately not given enough of a heads-up about the deadline for sending their nomination documents to the Conservative party’s headquarters in Ottawa.

Treasury Board president Day announced on March 12 that he wouldn’t be running again. The deadline for the party headquarters receiving nomination papers from would-be candidates was March 18, six days later.

Kelowna realtor Sean Upshaw, one of the disgruntled would-be candidates, complained that party officials initially didn’t tell him that his documents had to be sent to Ottawa. He said he thought they would be handled locally.

Local party officials, he added, also restricted access to the local membership list. Candidates needed to get the signatures of 25 local members to participate in the nomination.

Upshaw said “efforts were made to restrict competition from outside of the riding executive.”

In an email, Upshaw added that “if this is the present state of how we decide to elect our politicians in the Conservative party, what a sad, sad state of affairs.”

Dietrich Wittel, a Penticton resident, also sought to become a candidate. But the local physician found it was “impossible” to complete the required documents and fire them off to Ottawa by the March 18 deadline.

“The nomination meeting was totally rigged,” said Wittel. “It reminded me of Soviet-style elections. Could also say banana republic-style elections.”

Local officials told him the tight time-frame was caused by the probable dissolution of Parliament in the next few days.

“But there was no intention of letting additional members in on something that had been discussed privately,” he added.

Lorne Beloud, a realtor, wanted to run as a candidate but gave up when he realized there wasn’t enough time for him to file his nomination papers by the deadline.

“If you didn’t have some knowledge ahead of time, you really didn’t have time to complete the requirements.”

Wine Country Chamber of Commerce president Jason Cox sent off his nomination papers but was told they arrived late.

Cox says he doesn’t believe there was any deliberate “plan to cause a limited field. I just know the result was a limited field, whether that was their intent or not.”

Newly minted Tory candidate Albas, the 34-year-old owner of a martial arts operation, easily defeated two other challengers — Penticton realtor Marshall Neufeld and West Kelowna businessman Rusty Ensign.

dward@vancouversun.com