It’s decision day for the Liberals: here’s what to expect

After almost two years without a permanent leader, a six month campaign with five debates in five provinces, and endless press about Justin Trudeau, the federal Liberals will finally crown their new leader on Sunday evening.

As of midnight Saturday, 99,268 registered voters cast their votes online or by telephone.

To put that into perspective, 65,108 individuals in the NDP leadership race in 2012 and 97,761 people voted for in the last Conservative leadership race in 2004.

That number will undoubtedly go higher: Liberal members and supporters have until 3 p.m. (EST) to vote.

[ Related: Ahead of the Liberal leadership announcement, the NDP look to re-brand ]

At 5 p.m., the candidates, their supporters and Liberal party brass will descend upon the Westin Hotel in Ottawa for the official announcement.

The agenda for that event is as follows:

Because the party is using a preferential ballot system -- whereby voters rank the six candidates in order of preference -- the final result will be announced at 5:53 p.m. regardless of whether the vote is one ballot or more.

The event will be broadcast online at Liberal.ca, on CPAC and on television on CBC Newsworld.

Come back to Yahoo! Canada's Political Points for live updates and detailed analysis.

Joyce Murray camp remains confident:

While most believe that Justin Trudeau will win the race handily, the Joyce Murray camp isn't so sure.

[ Related: On Justin Trudeau, we all just need to get a grip ]

In a text message exchange with Yahoo! Canada News on Saturday, Murray spokesperson Brenden Johnstone said that they still don't think Trudeau has the numbers to win on the first ballot.

"Our voters have voted in...a high turn out," he said.

"It's very much a two-way race between Joyce and Justin going into the final hours of voting."

(Photo courtesy of Reuters)

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