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Three leading London mayoral candidates are locked in a dead heat, the fourth not far behind, a poll commissioned for The London Free Press suggests as the election campaign hits the home stretch.

With the results so tight, and London switching to a new preferential voting system and scrapping the traditional first-past-the-post method, The Free Press-Forum poll also underlines that the race for the top job on London city council will be won based on voters’ second and third-choice preferences.

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Paul Cheng, Ed Holder and Tanya Park are virtually tied among decided London voters and those leaning toward a particular candidate, with 27, 26 and 25 per cent of the vote, respectively, Forum Research found in its survey conducted for The Free Press.

Paul Paolatto was at 19 per cent.

The poll has a margin of error of three per cent.

The findings mean the key for candidates in the final stretch to the Oct. 22 election will be their ability to gather up crucial second- and third-place support, under the new ranked ballot voting system London is adopting, from voters who want someone else to win the race, experts say.