UCP Moves Vote for Leadership Race to Mail-In Ballot

Kenny's leadership review is going from in-person to mail-in, according to the United Conservative Party.

A post on the UCP website outlines the reason for moving the vote in Red Deer, "Since the SGM was announced, our UCP Membership has more than doubled and more than 15,000 people registered to participate. Because of the intense interest, all members as of the SGM Early Bird Deadline of March 19 will be able to vote.

"The SGM on April 9 will go ahead as planned in a virtual format where all members will be able to participate at no cost, but voting will take place by mail-in ballot only. A national auditing firm is being retained to oversee the mail-in vote," the post said on the UCP website.

There was an estimated 14,000 members of the UCP membership expected to descend upon Red Deer in April, but this means those members will have a chance to vote at home.

The move has one vocal critic of the leadership of the Premier enraged.

Brian Jean, off his win in a by-election in Fort McMurray Lac La Biche, said that this move could lead to more fraud, "The UCP Board’s decision to do this Leadership Review Vote completely outside of the party’s rules is a travesty.

"The party board has now decided that the party rules don’t matter. The Societies Act which governs our party doesn’t matter. And the rights of UCP members to have a process that is fair and honest does not matter," Jean said in a Facebook Video after the news of the change was announced. "Make no mistake, a rushed mail-in ballot is a formula for fraud and cheating. The UCP cannot survive another tainted vote.

"In the meantime, we will be in discussions with our lawyers over what legal options party members may have to use either the party's dispute process or the courts to make the UCP follow the law and its own rules."

Details on when the ballots would be mailed out would be released in the coming days.