The Liberal Party of Canada said nearly 400,000 people have signed up to cast a ballot in the leadership race.
Individuals wishing to vote in the contest had until Jan. 27 to register as Liberal.
The number is preliminary, the party said in a statement, as it continues to review the applications. The leadership candidates’ teams will also have the opportunity to challenge the list of members.
“In the last two weeks, we’ve substantially grown our membership and broken new fundraising records,“ said Azam Ishmael, national director of the Liberal Party of Canada, in the statement. He added the new leader will be chosen in a ”robust process that is secure and fair.”
The Liberal Party changed its membership rules at the onset of the race to limit participation to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, while maintaining free registration. The party previously allowed foreign nationals to vote in nomination and leadership contests.
Pressure on the party to change its rules increased amid the Foreign Interference Commission’s examination of foreign states’ involvement in political parties’ contests, as well as reports citing foreign interference from the National Security Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.
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The party said registering as a Liberal is just the first step required to vote, with the full process to be announced in the coming days. This will include “strict identification verifications” and confirmation of eligibility as a registered Liberal.
The process to sign up as a Liberal, which doesn’t require the use of a credit or debit card, led to multiple individuals making fraudulent registrations and posting about it on social media. Some registered pets or foreign leaders.
“The Liberal Party of Canada is aware of these ridiculous, fraudulent registration attempts,” party spokesperson Parker Lund said in early January.
During the leadership race in 2013, won by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party said over 130,000 members and supporters had registered to vote in the race. The party said at the time the contest could be the “biggest, most open federal political party leadership vote in Canadian history,” with party sign-up being “as easy as 1-2-3.”
There are currently five leadership candidates left in the race, after Liberal MP Jaime Battiste dropped out. He has since thrown his support behind former central banker Mark Carney.
The other contenders are former cabinet ministers Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould, and former Liberal MPs Frank Baylis and Ruby Dhalla.
Carney and Freeland have so far received the most endorsements and have the most support among potential Liberal voters, according to a recent poll by Abacus Data.
The new Liberal leader will be chosen on March 9, while Parliament’s prorogation will end on March 24.
If Carney wins he would become a rare unelected prime minister and will have to seek a House of Commons seat via a byelection or general election.
All opposition parties have said they will topple the minority Liberal government when Parliament resumes.
