SUPPORTERS of ousted sitting Liberal senator Gary Humphries will try to have his preselection loss overturned, accusing a triumphant former ACT opposition leader Zed Seselja of winning a rigged vote.
Many vented their frustration at the result outside the Eastlake Football Club in Kingston, labelling the preselection process "corrupt" and "disgusting".
Mr Seselja's push for the ACT Senate spot has divided the Liberal Party in Canberra, with Humphries supporters complaining they were effectively locked out of Saturday's vote.
The 35-year-old won the ballot by 114 to 84 - but more than 400 Liberal members were ineligible because they hadn't attended a branch meeting in the past six months.
Mr Seselja is alleged to have urged supporters to attend meetings just days before he announced his nomination, while other Liberal members were kept in the dark.
The new senate candidate dismissed talk of the preselection being rigged or unfair, saying, "It is a clear result from the party and I'm humbled by it."
"I think what we've had today is an exercise in democracy," Mr Seselja told reporters outside the football club.
"These processes are difficult, there is no doubt about it. Democracy is sometimes difficult - it can be messy."
Senator Humphries - who had been in the job for 10 years and had the support of opposition leader Tony Abbott - congratulated Mr Seselja on the win.
He said he would abide by the result despite talk of a challenge from his supporters.
"I would obviously dearly have loved to have been there to fight that fight and have been the person who took on Labor and the Greens in September," he said.
"I'm sad after a very long career in politics to have to bow out, but one's time is up sooner or later and obviously today the view of members is my time is up."
Former Canberra Liberals president Gary Kent said a full divisional council of the party would be convened in the next few weeks, triggered by a petition from members angry at the Seselja coup.
That meeting would have the power to overturn what he dubbed Saturday's "unfair and corrupt" preselection.
"I'm a Liberal (and) I'm ashamed of what happened today," Mr Kent told reporters.
"There will be a meeting in the middle of March at which hopefully 640 party members will be able to judge what happened here today.
"It was less than one in three voters. That was deliberate.
"Many people were not told about qualifying meetings."
A spokeswoman for Mr Abbott said he would not be commenting on the ACT preselection.
Federal ACT Labor MP Andrew Leigh said the jobs of thousands of Canberra public servants would be at risk with the election of Mr Seselja.
"Mr Seselja will be the last person to stand between Canberra and the Liberals' band of anti-public service Visigoths," he said in a statement.
Greens senate candidate for the ACT, former GetUp! director Simon Sheikh, invited Mr Seselja to a debate on coalition plans to cut public service jobs.
"One thing is clear - if there is an Abbott government, their intention is to cull public service jobs, and Canberra will be the hardest hit," he said in a statement.
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