Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

How does the preferential ballot work?

All Liberal Party nominations require a 50% plus 1 majority for the successful candidate to become the nominee. In the case of 2 contestants, its simple, whoever has the most votes wins.

In a nomination contest that involves 3 or more candidates, if nobody has achieved 50% plus 1 of the votes after all the ballots are counted, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their ballots are re-assigned to the 2nd ballot votes.

For Example:

In Toronto Centre, there may be 1200 ballots cast. To win, the candidate must get 601 votes.
The vote counts could be as follows on the first ballot,

Candidate A – 400

Candidate B – 500

Candidate C – 300

In this case, candidate C would be eliminated and their #2 ballots would be redistributed to Candidate A and B accordingly.

The second ballot count could be as follows,

Candidate A – 605

Candidate B – 595

Candidate A would be declared the winner with over 50% of the votes.

Why is marking a #2 candidate on my ballot important, I only signed up to
support candidate X?

If you only mark your ballot with a #1 beside your candidate, and they are
eliminated, your ballot becomes “exhausted” and reduces the total number of
votes needed to win.

For Example:

Candidate A – 400

Candidate B – 500

Candidate C – 300

In this case, candidate C would be eliminated and their #2 ballots would be redistributed to Candidate A and B accordingly. If only 200 people marked a #2 candidate on their ballot who supported Candidate C, this would reduce the total number of ballots to 1100, making the number needed to win 551.

The second ballot count could be as follows,

Candidate A – 505

Candidate B – 595