New PQ leader will be announced Oct. 7
The party has laid the ground rules for the race to find PKP's replacement
Pierre Karl Péladeau's replacement as leader of the Parti Québécois will be announced on Oct. 7.
The announcement will come after two days of electronic voting that will begin Oct. 5.
These were part of the ground rules for the PQ's leadership race that party officials released on Sunday.
Leadership hopefuls will have to gather 1,500 signatures and pay $20,000 by June 30 to become official candidates. Each campaign will have their spending capped at $200,000.
Party officials also hinted it would host two debates, at least one of which will be in Montreal. The winner will be announced in Quebec City.
New voting system
In recent leadership contests, the party has used the run-off system to ensure its new leader has the support of a majority of its members.
But this time around, it will rely on a preferential ballot. Voters will rank their first, second and third choice for leader.
"It's used in certain spots around the world," said party president Raymond Archambault. "We used it for the Parti Québécois in 2005, in the Bloc Québécois as well. So I don't think our members will be unfamiliar with this method of voting."
So far, four potential candidates have come forward: Véronique Hivon, Alexandre Cloutier, Martine Ouellet and Jean-François Lisée.
Cloutier, who finished a distant second to Péladeau in the 2015 leadership race, is considered the front-runner.