Manitoba's next premier will be named Saturday at Winnipeg's Victoria Inn

After running a leadership race by mail, Manitoba's Progressive Conservative Party will announce its new leader and the province's next premier at an in-person event on Saturday.

Candidates Shelly Glover and Heather Stefanson and a limited number of fully-vaccinated supporters are gathering at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg at an event slated to run Saturday from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

The event could last longer if the vote count is not completed by then, according to a notice sent to media by the party.

Roughly 24,000 party members are eligible to vote for the new leader. The ballots are being mailed in or delivered directly tothe party's office in Winnipeg.

The ballots are sealed inside envelopes along with membership identification documents that are verified as they arrive at party headquarters,party spokesperson Keith Stewart said in anemail.

"Ballots are being verified on a daily basis as they arrive. They are then placed in ballot boxes to be counted Saturday, after the submission deadline," Stewart said.

The new leader will be sworn in as premier at a later date.