An online campaign encouraging youth leadership that became the platform for a debate on abortion accessibility on P.E.I. has announced a tie for first place.

Kandace Hagen of P.E.I. became the target of anti-abortion activists when she was nominated in the Active-8 campaign, which celebrates youth leadership. Hagen is a founder of the P.E.I. Reproductive Rights Organization. PRRO launched last year, and is lobbying for access to legal abortion in the province. P.E.I. will pay for abortions, but they must be performed on the mainland.

The eight nominees sought votes online, and anti-abortion activists targeted Hagen's campaign, urging people to vote for Tara Brinston, Hagen's closest competitor. Active-8 announced the tie Monday.

"We are pleased to announce that due to such a close final tally of pledges, both Tara and Kandace will be awarded a prize for their strong leadership," read an announcement on the group's web site.

The results were supposed to be announced on March 2, but the announcement was delayed because of the overwhelming amount of pledges at the end of the campaign.