British Columbia

B.C. Liberal Party leadership race about to enter final stage

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Weighted vote system and preferential ballot forces strategic campaigning in last month

The B.C. Liberal Party leadership candidates, clockwise from top left: Dianne Watts, Andrew Wilkinson, Michael Lee, Mike de Jong, Todd Stone and Sam Sullivan. (CBC/The Canadian Press)

It's a big day of campaigning for those looking to become the next leader of the B.C. Liberal Party.

To vote in the party's 2018 leadership election, B.C. citizens must sign up as party members by 5 p.m. PT Dec. 29.

That's led to a torrent of activity on social media by the six candidates looking to follow Christy Clark, who resigned as party leader in July 2017.

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The party hasn't released membership figures yet, but it doesn't expect to eclipse the 82,000 members they had during the 2011 leadership election, where Clark defeated three other candidates to emerge victorious.

University of Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford says it's not surprising this election isn't as high profile as in 2011, given that the Liberals are now in opposition.

"Last time the Liberals were in power and Gordon Campbell had spectacularly resigned after the HST debacle, there was a lot of focus on choosing his successor," he said.

"To the extent that people are paying attention to B.C. politics, they're all looking at John Horgan, and disputes with Alberta, and other sorts of issues, so this leadership race seems to be below the radar."

Six candidates are running for the leadership of the party: MLAs Mike de Jong, Michael Lee, Todd Stone, Sam Sullivan and Andrew Wilkinson, in addition to former Surrey mayor and Conservative Party MP Dianne Watts.

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Preferential, weighted voting system

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Voting will take place online and over the phone from Feb. 1 to 3, with the winner announced in the evening of Feb. 3.

Members will use a preferential ballot, meaning they can rank as many of the six candidates as they wish, with their secondary choices counted if their preferred candidates are eliminated.

In addition, all 87 electoral districts in B.C. are weighted equally, which Telford says creates different campaigning incentives from traditional one-member, one-vote systems.

"Rather than mass sign-ups in populated areas, is causes candidates to travel much more ... because 50 members in some remote ridings is just as important as 5,000 members in a big urban riding," he said.

The last debate of the leadership race is scheduled for Jan. 23 in Vancouver.