THE crushing defeat of Umno in the 14th general election has paved the way for a reinvigorated party election next week, where more than 100,000 delegates will get to decide on their new president and his deputy.

The party’s constitution was amended in 2010 to allow for all posts to be contested, but the ruling was moot for the party’s top two positions in the 2013 polls, as former president Najib Razak and his then-deputy Muhyiddin Yassin cruised to victory uncontested.

This election, though, will see a total of five men vying to be president, two for deputy president, and seven for the three vice president slots. In the race for the Supreme Council, 106 candidates are vying for one of the 25 slots.

How the Umno vote works

Besides direct voting, Umno also employs an electoral college system where winners are determined by the number of divisions they win.

The total number of divisions won will determine the winner and, in a case of a tie between two candidates on the number of divisions won, the tie-breaker will be based on the actual number of votes won.

In the 2013 vice-presidents’ race, acting president and former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamid won 188 divisions. The other two vice presidents – Mohd Shafie Apdal and Hishammuddin Hussein – won 177 and 101 respectively.

From tomorrow, party delegates from all of Umno’s divisions will elect their division chiefs, followed by the leaders for the party’s three wings; Pemuda (Umno Youth), Wanita (Women’s wing) and Puteri (Women’s Youth wing).

To vote for the respective wing leaders, each branch will send five delegates as representatives to the division to cast their votes.

The five comprise the chief, deputy chief and three elected delegates from the branch.

For the top posts, the rules are slightly different as each branch has four automatic delegates comprising the chiefs for the branch, Pemuda, Wanita, and Puteri.

Additional delegates depend on the number of members at the branch as one delegate can be elected to represent every 50 members.

While the conduct of the party polls in general will be keenly watched, all eyes will almost certainly be on the battle for top position on June 30 between the main contestants – “incumbent” Zahid, 81-year-old veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, and 42-year-old Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. – June 22, 2018.