Preliminary results from Elections Canada show incumbent Mel Arnold is poised to once again win the North Okanagan-Shuswap riding. (Contributed)

UPDATE: Arnold set to win North Okanagan-Shuswap

Update, 8:36 p.m.

Update, 8:36 p.m.

Preliminary results show Mel Arnold once again taking the North Okanagan-Shuswap riding.

As of 8:35 p.m., results from 70 of 308 polling stations have the Conservative candidate on top in the riding with 4,936 votes – 47 per cent of the vote. Behind Arnold was NDP candidate Ron Johnston with 2,085 votes (20 per cent), with Liberal candidate Shelley Desautels close behind with 1,946 votes (18 per cent). People’s Party candidate Kyle Delfing had tallied 1,031 votes (10 per cent) and Green Party candidate Andrea Gunner had 568 votes (five per cent).

Update, 7:50 p.m.

While early projections are being made for a Liberal Party victory, in the North Okanagan-Shuswap riding, Conservative Party candidate Mel Arnold appears to be in the lead.

As of 7:50 p.m., according to early results for the riding shared by Elections Canada, Arnold was ahead with 388 votes or 56 per cent, followed by Liberal candidate Shelley Desautels with 138 votes (17 per cent). This was from only three of 308 polls reporting.

Original story

The polls are closed and North Okanagan-Shuswap candidates are watching and waiting as results are being tallied.

Vying for election in the riding are Mel Arnold with the Conservative Party of Canada, Kyle Delfing with the People’s Party of Canada, Shelley Desautels with the Liberal Party of Canada, Andrea Gunner for the Green Party of Canada and Ron Johnston for the New Democratic Party.

Arnold and Desautels said they would both be among small gatherings in Salmon Arm on election night. Johnston said he’d be spending the evening with his family. Gunner and her team will be at the Armstrong Curling Club. Delfing said he and his team will also be in Armstrong, hosting a party with DJs and singers. Masks optional.

The main parties seeking the 338 seats in the House of Commons are Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives, Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats, Annamie Paul’s Greens, Yves-François Blanchet’s Bloc Quebecois and Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada.

In the 2019 federal election, Arnold won the riding with 36,154 votes (48.76 per cent). Behind Arnold was Liberal candidate Cindy Derkaz with 16,783 votes (22.64 per cent), Harwinder Sandhu for the NDP with 11,353 votes (15.3 per cent), Green candidate Marc Reinarz with 7,828 votes (10.56 per cent) and Delfing for People’s Party with 2,027 votes (2.73 per cent). Of the riding’s 107,712 eligible voters, 74,595 (69.25 per cent) cast a ballot in the election.

More to come.

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Read more: Election day: Meet the contenders in the North Okanagan-Shuswap riding

Read more: Party leaders cast their ballots in federal election


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