As Canada's largest opposition party prepares to elect its new leader today, the winner could conceivably face questions about his or her legitimacy.

That's because the Conservative Party of Canada's voting system makes it possible for someone to win even with a minority of votes from members.

And the loser could end up with more votes.

Each of Canada's 338 electoral districts counts for 100 points, regardless of the number of members.

So a traditionally Liberal or NDP riding with relatively few Conservative party members has an equal say as traditional Conservative ridings, which may have hundreds or thousands more members.

"Points are assigned based on a candidate’s percentage in each district," the Conservative website states. "A majority of points (16,901) is required to declare a new leader."

All four candidates are lawyers: former cabinet ministers Peter MacKay and Erin O'Toole, MP Derek Sloan, and former candidate Leslyn Lewis.

Three live in Ontario. The fourth, MacKay, lived in Ottawa for many years but is from Nova Scotia.