Days before leadership vote, Manitoba PCs scramble to get ballots to over 1,000 members

Only two business days before Manitoba Progressive Conservatives choose their new leader, the party is scrambling to get ballots to more than a thousand voters who've told the campaigns they still haven't received them.

Shelly Glover's campaign claims thousands of eligible voters either do not have their ballots or have been told they can not vote.

Heather Stefanson's campaign pegs the number of missing ballots at 1,200, or almost one in 20 eligible voters.

The party, for its part, is setting up ballot pickup and drop-off stations across the province in an effort to ensure members who didn't receive ballots can cast a vote.

"There will be some regional stations for ballot pickup and drop-off. There will not be in-person voting available," party spokesperson Keith Stewart said in a statement.

Manitoba PCs scramble to get ballots to over 1,000 members

3 years ago

Duration 1:55

Only two business days before Manitoba Progressive Conservatives choose their new leader, the party is scrambling to get ballots to more than a thousand voters who've told the campaigns they still haven't received them.

The party says it mailed out more than 25,000 ballots earlier this month to party members. Their choice of leader will become Manitoba's next premier, following the resignation of Brian Pallister, who announced in August that he would step down.

Party members will choose between Glover, a former police officer who served as a member of Parliament in Stephen Harper's government, and Stefanson, the current member of Manitoba's legislative assembly for Tuxedo.

The party plans to have all the ballots counted by Saturday afternoon.

The sheer number of members who are still unable to vote three days before decision day raises the prospect that result could be disputed on Saturday.

"If there are logistical concerns, it will call into question the legitimacy of the race and the legitimacy of the outcome," said Royce Koop, a political studies professor at the University of Manitoba.

'Legitimate questions' about race: NDP

Glover expressed a similar concern, insisting her campaign raised the prospect of missing ballots to the party weeks ago.

She said while her campaign is trying to work with the party, she fears some members won't be able to vote.

"We're pretty concerned that the process likely has impacted thousands of votes," she said in an interview, suggesting the 10-week leadership campaign period was not long enough.

"There is a reason that elections are six months long for leaderships … and unfortunately, I had no involvement in choosing this timeline. None whatsoever."

The Stefanson campaign said in a statement it is confident the party will fix the problem.

Interim Manitoba Premier Kelvin Goertzen said he is also confident the race will be fair.

"Almost any mail-in ballot process that I've heard has some degree of concern, because in some ways you lose control of those ballots when they leave your party headquarters," Goertzen said.

"I do understand that the leadership committee is working through those challenges."

The leader of the Official Opposition said he's not so sure.

"I don't know what's going on behind the scenes at the PC Party headquarters, but what I have seen so far are some legitimate questions around the membership process and some legitimate questions about the way this race is being conducted," said NDP Leader Wab Kinew.

The party is slated to make its decision public on Saturday at Winnipeg's Victoria Inn, between 2:30 and 5 p.m. CT.