New PQ leader will be announced Oct. 7

Pierre Karl Pladeau'sreplacement as leader of the PartiQubcoiswill be announced on Oct.7.

The announcement will come after two days of electronic voting that will beginOct.5.

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These were part of the ground rules for the PQ'sleadership race that party officials released on Sunday.

Leadership hopefulswill have to gather 1,500 signatures and pay $20,000 by June 30 to become official candidates. Each campaign will have their spending capped at $200,000.

Party officials also hinted it would host two debates, at least one of which will bein Montreal. The winner will be announced in Quebec City.

New voting system

In recent leadership contests, the party has used the run-off systemto ensure its new leader has the support of a majority of its members.

But this time around, it will rely on a preferential ballot. Voters will rank their first, second and third choice for leader.

"It's used in certain spots around the world," said party presidentRaymondArchambault. "We used it for the Parti Qubcois in 2005, inthe BlocQubcois as well. So I don't think our members will be unfamiliar with this method of voting."

So far, four potential candidates have come forward:Vronique Hivon, Alexandre Cloutier, Martine Ouellet and Jean-Franois Lise.

Cloutier, who finished a distant second to Pladeau in the 2015 leadership race, is considered the front-runner.

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