  The Hubble tension, revealed by a $\sim 5\sigma$ discrepancy between
measurements of the Hubble-Lemaitre constant from early- and local-Universe
observations, is one of the most significant problems in modern cosmology. In
order to better understand the origin of this mismatch, independent techniques
to measure $H_0$, such as strong lensing time delays, are required. Notably,
the sample size of such systems is key to minimising statistical uncertainties
and cosmic variance, which can be improved by exploring the datasets of
large-scale sky surveys like DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument). We
identify possible strong lensing time-delay systems within DESI by selecting
candidate multiply imaged lensed quasars from a catalogue of 24,440,816
candidate QSOs contained in the 9th data release of the DESI Legacy Imaging
Surveys (DESI-LS). Using a friend-of-friends-like algorithm on spatial
co-ordinates, our method generates an initial list of compact quasar groups.
This list is subsequently filtered using a measure of the similarity of colours
of a group's members and the likelihood that they are quasars. A visual
inspection finally selects candidate strong lensing systems based on the
spatial configuration of the group members. We identify 620 new candidate
multiply imaged lensed quasars (101 Grade-A, 214 Grade-B, 305 Grade-C). This
number excludes 53 known spectroscopically confirmed systems and existing
candidate systems identified in other similar catalogues. When available, these
new candidates will be further checked by combining the spectroscopic and
photometric data from DESI. The catalogues and images of the candidates in this
work are available online
(https://github.com/EigenHermit/lensed_qso_cand_catalogue_He-22/).
