VANCOUVER — In a 2018 byelection in Kelowna West, Ben Stewart of the BC Liberal Party took 56.28 per cent of the vote, defeating Shelley Cook of the NDP by a margin of 32.77 percentage points.

Stewart is seeking re-election this year. Cook is not running again.

Also in the race is Matt Badura of the Libertarian party.

The Kelowna West riding includes the communities of Kelowna and Duck Lake.

There are 53,008 registered voters in the riding, compared to 48,162 in the last election.

As of Oct. 20, 8,968 vote-by-mail packages had been issued to registered voters.

The voter turnout rate in the 2018 byelection was 31.55 per cent, compared to 61.18 per cent provincewide in the 2017 election.

At dissolution, the NDP held 41 seats, the BC Liberal Party had 41 seats and the Green party two seats. Two seats were held by Independents and one seat was vacant.

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2018 byelection statistics at a glance: Previous candidates (in order of rank):

1. Stewart, Ben
Affiliation: BC Liberal Party
Total valid votes: 8,406
Vote share: 56.28 per cent

2. Cook, Shelley
Affiliation: BC NDP
Total valid votes: 3,511
Vote share: 23.51 per cent

3. Stupka, Robert
Affiliation: BC Green Party
Total valid votes: 1,893
Vote share: 12.67 per cent

Previous riding statistics at a glance:
Total registered voters: 47,461
Total registered voters who voted: 14,972
Voter turnout: 31.55 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2020 and was generated automatically.

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Digital Data Desk, The Canadian Press