Doug Ford shakes hands with those in attendance at a rally on Tuesday. (Photo: Amanda Smith/ Quinte News)
Doug Ford is the new leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives.
The announcement comes after a delay that lasted more than seven hours as party officials reviewed the results of the vote.
The vote was extremely close between Ford and Christine Elliott, with Caroline Mulroney finishing third and Tanya Granic Allen dropping off the ballot in the first round of voting.
The long delay in announcing results came when it was discovered thousands of voters’ ballots were placed in the wrong ridings.
In a statement published on CBC early Sunday morning, Christine Elliott said she will not concede the leadership to Doug Ford citing serious irregularities in the voting and demanding an investigation into the process.
Elliott maintains she won the popular vote and the most ridings and that in the end less than 150 points separated the top two.
The party says it reviewed certain aspects of the vote and cleared all issues before announcing Ford’s victory.
Local MPP Todd Smith is the co-chair of the Elliott campaign and in a CBC TV interview late yesterday afternoon refused to rule out legal action regarding the voting process.
