This Saturday and Sunday, Ontario Liberal Party (OLP) members will cast ballots at local Leadership Election Votes (LEVs) to choose their new Leader, and Ontario’s next Premier.
Over 100,000 members within the OLP are eligible to cast ballots this weekend — making this election by far the largest in Ontario Liberal history. In comparison, 44,000 members were eligible to vote during the 2013 leadership race, and 38,000 in 2020.
“Our competitive leadership race has taken us to every corner of our province, seen us sign up a record number of new members, and most importantly, have conversations with Ontarians about what matters the most to them,” said John Fraser, Interim Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is seen as the front runner in the leadership race. She is running against Ottawa-Centre MP Yasir Naqvi, Beaches-East York MP Nate Erskine-Smith and Kingston MPP Ted Hsu.
No matter who wins, the Ontario Liberals have one goal in mind, to defeat Doug Ford in the 2026 Provincial Elections.
After party members adopted a new system for electing their next Leader at the March 2023 Annual General Meeting, the Leadership Election Votes (LEVs) will take place under a direct voting system.
Under the new leadership election system, each constituency association shall be allocated 100 points, to be awarded to leadership candidates based on the proportion of support they receive. Members will directly cast their votes for their preferred Leadership candidate using a ranked ballot, giving every member a say in the election of a new Leader.
Nate Erskine-Smith is encourage everyone supporting him to rank Yasir Naqvi as their second choice.
“I look forward to joining the tens of thousands of Ontario Liberals who will make their voices heard this weekend, and rallying around our new Leader on December 2nd,” Fraser said.
Ballot counting and the announcement of round-by-round results will take place on Saturday, December 2, 2023.
