VANCOUVER — It was a landslide victory in the last election in Kootenay East when Tom Shypitka of the BC Liberal Party took 56.57 per cent of the vote, defeating Randal Macnair of the NDP by a margin of 26.90 percentage points.

Shypitka is up for re-election this year. Macnair, however, is not running again.

Kerri Wall is the candidate for the Green party and Wayne Stetski is running for the NDP.

The Kootenay East riding includes the communities of Cranbrook, Fernie, Elkford and Sparwood.

There are 32,135 registered voters in the riding, compared to 30,853 in the last election.

As of Oct. 20, 3,236 vote-by-mail packages had been issued to registered voters.

The previous voter turnout rate in the riding was 55.71 per cent, compared to 61.18 per cent provincewide.

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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Last election statistics at a glance: 

Previous candidates (in order of rank):

1. Shypitka, Tom Glenn

Affiliation: BC Liberal Party

Total valid votes: 9,666

Vote share: 56.57 per cent

2. Macnair, Randal

Affiliation: NDP

Total valid votes: 5,070

Vote share: 29.67 per cent

3. Prest, Yvonne Marie

Affiliation: Green party

Total valid votes: 1,926

Vote share: 11.27 per cent

4. Komar, Keith D.

Affiliation: Libertarian party

Total valid votes: 425

Vote share: 2.49 per cent

Previous riding statistics at a glance: 

Total registered voters: 30,853

Total registered voters who voted: 17,188

Voter turnout: 55.71 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