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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Edmonton Provincial Electoral District

The Edmonton provincial electoral district also known as Edmonton City from 1905 to 1909, was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada mandated to return members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1917 and again from 1921 to 1959.

The Edmonton, Alberta electoral district was created when Alberta became a province, replacing the territorial electoral district of the same name. It existed in two incarnations from 1905 - 1913 and again from 1921 - 1959, with the city (small as it was in former times) broken up into separate single-member constituencies in the other time-periods. The district was created when Alberta became a province, to encompass residents of the city of Edmonton on the northside of the North Saskatchewan River. The Edmonton district was extended to the southside of the river in 1921, By that time, the southside City of Strathcona had merged into the City of Edmonton.

From 1909 to 1917 and from 1921 to 1956, the Edmonton provincial constituency elected multiple members.

From 1905 to 1926 and 1959 to present, each Edmonton voter could cast as many votes as the number of seats in the district. In 1909 and 1913, Edmonton voters could cast up to two votes each. In 1921 they could cast up to five votes, the same number as seats. Edmonton used Single transferable voting in general elections held between 1926 and 1959, where each voter cast one transferable vote. In the province's history, there were three multi-member districts, the other ones being Calgary and Medicine Hat.

History

Three methods of electing representatives were used over the years in the Edmonton district.

First past the post election of a single member was used in 1905 (and in all by-elections up to 1924).

The Edmonton constituency was divided into two single-member constituencies for the provincial election of 1917: Edmonton East and Edmonton West. The adjacent constituency of Edmonton South had been renamed from the old constituency of Strathcona.

The three Edmonton districts were merged to form the Edmonton constituency in 1921, and block voting was established in 1921, to elect five members in the constituency.

Block voting (voters able to cast as many votes as there were seats) was used in 1909 and 1913, each voter casting up to two votes, and up to five votes in 1921.

As a semblance of proportional representation, the UFA government brought in ranked voting for all constituencies starting in 1924. It maintained Edmonton, Calgary and Medicine Hat as multi-member constituencies, with seats now filled through Single transferable vote, which at the time was called the Hare system or simply as Proportional representation. Instant-runoff voting was used outside those multi-member districts and was also used in provincial by-elections during this period.

Edmonton had five seats in 1926-1930, then six seats in 1930 to 1940, then five until 1952. Edmonton had seven seats elected at-large in 1952 and 1955.

In 1959 the Social Credit government broke up the Calgary and Edmonton constituencies and replaced the transferable balloting with first-past-the-post single-member districts across the province. Nine constituencies were created in Edmonton: Edmonton Centre, Edmonton North, Edmonton Norwood, Edmonton North East, Edmonton North West, Jasper West, Strathcona Centre, Strathcona East and Strathcona West.

The first woman elected to a provincial seat in Edmonton was Mary Lemessurier in 1979. Women candidates had run in Edmonton prior to that including during the time STV was used, but none were elected.

No Labour, CCF or NDP MLA was elected in the city from 1905 to 1982, other than in some of the elections when PR was used.

Expansion of seats and districts in Edmonton

The first table shows at a glance, the number of seats available by general election year for the Edmonton riding. The second table shows the number of districts in Edmonton, when the Edmonton riding was broken up.

Seats

Year 1905 1909-1913 1917 1921 1926 1930 1935 1940 1944 1948 1952 1955
Seats 1 2 3 5 5 6 6 5 5 5 7 7

After 1956, all Alberta MLAs were elected in single member districts so since then the number of districts has been the same as the number of seats as shown in the next table.

Districts

Year 1905-1913 1917 1921-1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1997 2001 2004
Districts 1* 3 1 9 10 11 16 16 18 18 17 17 18 19 19 18
  • Southside Edmonton (Strathcona) was independent from Edmonton until 1912. The area that is present-day Edmonton was spread over many districts, such as Strathcona, Leduc, Sturgeon and St. Albert. Gradually the city has grown to take in previously-rural land.

For the 1913 election, Edmonton South Provincial electoral district was created from the old Strathcona constituency to elect one MLA. The Edmonton constituency elected two members by the block vote system.

Edmonton party composition at a glance

The representation elected from 1926 to 1955 can be seen to be more mixed and balanced than representation elected both before and after that period. Not shown in the table below is the fact that in 1917 a Liberal and a Conservative were elected, and in 1959 one party took all the Edmonton seats. Prior to 1926, Edmonton elected its members using First past the post or Block voting. District-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting was used from 1924 to 1955. Since 1955, Edmonton has elected its MLAs through First past the post.

Affiliation 1905 1909 1913 1921 1926 1930 1935 1940 1942 1944 1948 1952 1955
  Liberal 1 2 2 5 1 1 3 1 2 3
  Conservative 2 3 1 1 1
  Social Credit 2 2 2 2 3 3 3
  Cooperative Commonwealth 1 1 1 1
  Labour 1 1
United Farmers 1 1
  Veteran's & Active Force 1
  Independent Citizen's 3 2 1
  Independent
 Total
1 2 2 5 5 6 6 5 5 5 5 7 7

(Note: Independent Citizens were members of the Unity League, an anti-SC coalition of Liberals, Conservatives and others.)

(Note: The "1942" column shows the change made by the 1942 by-election when Elmer Roper was elected. The other columns are all general elections. By-elections held in 1936 and 1937 saw a Liberal elected to replace the Liberal who had left the post so there was no change in party composition.)

Election results

1905

1905 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Wilson Cross 1,209 70.09%
Conservative William Antrobus Griesbach 516 29.91%
Total 1,725
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout 1,725 100.00%
Liberal pickup new district.
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton-City Official Results 1905 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
The Edmonton electoral district was known as Edmonton-City for the 1905 Alberta general election.

1909

This election was conducted using block voting, where each Edmonton voter could cast up to two votes.

1909 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Elected
Liberal Charles Wilson Cross 3,282 40.01% -6.22% Green tickY
Liberal John Alexander McDougall 2,977 36.30% -6.22% Green tickY
Conservative Albert F. Ewing 1,595 19.45% -10.46%
Independent John Gailbraith 348 4.24%
Total 8,202
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout N/A N/A N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton Official Results 1909 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Note: The total number of ballots cast or eligible electors is unknown.
Election held under multiple non-transferable vote to elect two members to the Legislative Assembly.

1912 by-election

Alberta provincial by-election, May 27, 1912
Ministerial by-election upon Charles Wilson Cross's appointment as Attorney-General on May 4, 1912
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Wilson Cross 1,802 47.95%
Conservative Albert Ewing 1,733 47.18%
Socialist Joseph R. Knight 183 4.87%
Total 3,758
Rejected, spoiled, and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout N/A N/A N/A
Liberal hold Swing N/A
Source(s)
"By-elections". Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 12, 2020.

1913

In the 1913 Alberta general election Premier Arthur Sifton, his lieutenant Charles Wilson Cross and Liberal candidate Alexander Grant MacKay each won nominations in two electoral districts. The Calgary Herald (a Conservative newspaper) surmised that Sifton and Cross were so scared of the electorate they felt they might not win if they ran in just one district. It accused Premier Sifton of having little confidence in his ability to return his government to power. Charles Cross would sit as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for both Edmonton and Edson.

This election was conducted using block voting, where each Edmonton voter could cast up to two votes.

1913 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Elected
Liberal Charles Wilson Cross 5,407 26.29% -13.72% Green tickY
Conservative Albert Freeman Ewing 5,107 24.83% Green tickY
Liberal Alexander Grant MacKay 4,913 23.89% 4.44%
Conservative William Antrobus Griesbach 4,499 21.87% 2.43%
Independent J. D. Blayney 643 3.13%
Total 20,569
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout 14,975 N/A N/A
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton Official Results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Note: The total number of ballots cast is not known.
Election held under multiple non-transferable vote for two members to the Legislative Assembly.
The results do not include 10 polls which were not counted.
Charles Wilson Cross was elected and chose to sit as the representative in both Edmonton and Edson.
Alexander Grant MacKay is erroneously listed as a Conservative for the 1913 election in many Government of Alberta publications, likewise Albert Freeman Ewing is erroneously listed as a Liberal

(Note: Blayney was a temperance candidate.)

1921

This election was conducted using block voting, where each Edmonton voter could cast up to five votes. All in all, 75,758 votes were cast by the approximately 18,000 voters who voted in this election. The percentages shown in the table below indicate the proportion of the voters casting votes who cast votes in the candidate's favour. About a third of the voters casting all five of their votes for the five Liberal candidates accrue a total of 150 "percent" of the votes while the candidates still only receive the support of a third of the voters. With the rest of the votes split among other parties, the Liberals with possibly only a third of the voter support did take all the Edmonton seats in this election.

1921 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes % Elected
Liberal Andrew Robert McLennan 6,498 36.20% Green tickY
Liberal John Campbell Bowen 5,803 32.33% Green tickY
Liberal Nellie McClung 5,388 30.02% Green tickY
Liberal John Robert Boyle 5,361 29.86% Green tickY
Liberal Jeremiah Wilfred Heffernan 5,289 29.46% Green tickY
United Farmers William Jackman 4,978 27.73%
Conservative Albert Freeman Ewing 4,777 26.61%
Labour A. A. Campbell 3,736 20.81%
Conservative Herbert Howard Crawford 3,553 19.79%
Conservative Elizabeth Ferris 3,188 17.76%
Labour Robert McCreath 2,931 16.33%
Independent Joseph Woods Adair 2,571 14.32%
Labour Elmer Roper 2,515 14.01%
Conservative Ambrose Upton Gledstanes Bury 2,509 13.98%
Conservative William A. Wells 2,329 12.97%
Independent James Kennedy Cornwall 2,082 11.60%
Independent A. L. Marks 1,744 9.72%
Independent Liberal Gerald Pelton 1,467 8.17%
Independent William Short 1,447 8.06%
Independent Labour William R. Ball 1,409 7.85%
Independent A. Boileau 1,226 6.83%
Independent Labour Mary Cantin 1,133 6.31%
Independent Labour Ernest Brown 1,073 5.98%
Independent Labour James Bailey 941 5.24%
Independent Labour Joe E. White 927 5.16%
Labour Socialist Marie Millard 883 4.92%
Total votes cast 17,951
Rejected, spoiled and declined N/A
Eligible electors / turnout N/A N/A N/A
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Election held under multiple non-transferable vote for five members to the Legislative Assembly.

1924 by-election

This was the first election in Alberta to use ranked voting in Instant-runoff voting, a system just introduced for elections of single members in by-elections in Alberta's largest cities.

W.T. Henry got the most votes in the first count but no candidate received a majority of them so subsequent counts were held using second choices of the lower-ranking candidates. He was elected on third count.

Communist Party candidate H.M. Bartholomew showed strong third place showing, almost exceeding Conservative candidate on the second count.

1926

Unlike the previous election, starting in 1926, the general election would be held using Single transferable voting. The districting remained the same with all of Edmonton in one city-wide district electing multiple members but now each voter cast just one vote.

In this election, 18,154 valid ballots were cast in Edmonton. About 751 had been rejected for being improperly filled out, a proportion of about 4 percent.

Under the STV procedure used (the Hare system devised by Thomas Hare in 1850s), the quota that guaranteed winning a seat was set as the Droop quota. This quota was 3026 (18,154 divided by 6, one more than the number of seats being contested, plus 1).

As candidates were eliminated, their votes were transferred to the remaining candidates in accordance with back-up preferences marked by the voter. (Marking of back-up preferences was voluntary and some voters simply marked jut one preference, their first choice. Votes eligible for transfer that had no next usable back-up preference were routed to the exhausted pile, but at the and only ten percent of the votes had had to be sidelined that way.)

With voters at complete liberty to rank the candidates along whatever criterion they wanted, some votes were transferred across party lines. Thus naturally the end result under STV differed from the party vote shares as per first preferences. But in this case the results were roughly proportional to each party's take of the first preference votes with two Conservatives, a Liberal, a Labour and a UFA winning seats. Labour and UFA were elected to their first Edmonton seat in this election, Edmonton's first PR election. This fairness was achieved not by reference to party shares but by the system's ability to produce high proportion of effective votes - votes actually used to elect someone. in this case, more than 14,000 votes, of the district's 18,000 valid votes, were used to actually elect someone, a rate of 78 percent.

The UFA ran one candidate, J.F. Lymburn. He led the polls, achieving quota in the first count and being declared elected. (Many of his surplus votes went to Labour candidates.) He was elected with just first preferences. All the other successful candidates would be elected with mixture of first preference votes and votes transferred to them through back-up preferences from unsuccessful candidates. They also each had votes received by early successful candidates that were transferred due to being surplus to the quota.

Prevey (Liberal) and Duggan (Conservative) won seats without the quota in the last counts, after other candidates were eliminated or elected.

Not all the five candidates who were most popular in the first count were elected in the end.

Independent Liberal Joe Clarke received many votes on the first count but did not make quota in first count and did not pick up enough votes from other candidates' later preferences to get quota, likely due to not being in a political party.

Liberal candidate J.C. Bowen was in the top five in first count, but also did not get quota and despite being in a party and thus likely to receive vote transfers, was not elected - many of the other Liberal party candidates' votes were transferred not to him but instead to another Liberal candidate, W.W. Prevey, a more popular individual overall, it seems. Eventually Prevey's vote total surpassed Bowen's, and Bowen, not Prevey, was eliminated when his turn came.

Labour although not having anyone in top five spots in first count, did capture a seat. This was proportional - its five candidates received about 20 percent of the vote. STV's transferable votes generally prevent bad effects of vote splitting, by allowing a party's dispersed votes to be concentrated on one or two leading party candidates as happened in this case. Farmilo, the leading labour candidate in the first count, was not elected though. Gibbs apparently as an individual was more popular overall than Farmilo. He got quota in a later count through distribution of other candidates' second preferences. This included both votes of supporters of his fellow Labour candidates and some supporters of Joe Clarke and other non-Labour candidates as well.

The Conservative party ran five candidates. The vote was spread among all five in the first count. None got quota in the first count. Weaver did later after three of his companion Conservative candidates were eliminated. Another Conservative (Duggan) - plus a Liberal (Prevey) - got seats by being relatively popular among the last ones still standing as the field of candidates thinned to just one more than the number of remaining open seats, at which time the two top remaining candidates - Conservative Duggan and Liberal Prevey - were declared elected, although not having quota.


1926 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
Elected
United Farmers John Lymburn 3,046 16.27% 3,026 Green tickY
Conservative Charles Yardley Weaver 2,202 11.76% 3,026 Green tickY
Liberal Warren Prevey 1,517 8.10% 2,940 Green tickY
Independent Liberal Joseph Clarke 1,179 6.30%
Liberal John C. Bowen 1,147 6.13%
Independent Samuel Barnes 1,060 5.66%
Labour Alfred Farmilo 973 5.20%
Conservative F. J. Folinsbee 881 4.71%
Labour Charles Gibbs 879 4.70% 3,026 Green tickY
Liberal William Thomas Henry 858 4.58%
Conservative David Duggan 857 4.58% 2,265 Green tickY
Conservative Herbert Crawford 782 4.18%
Labour James W. Findlay 628 3.35%
Labour Jan Lakeman 605 3.23%
Liberal William Rae 561 3.00%
Labour Elmer Roper 478 2.55%
Conservative Mark W. Robertson 361 1.93%
Independent John W. Leedy 140 0.75%
Total 18,154
Rejected, spoiled and declined 567
Eligible electors / turnout 33,741 55.48%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton Official Results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Election held under single transferable vote with a quota of 3,026 to elect five members to the Legislative Assembly.

1930

Quota was 3028

1930 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
Elected
United Farmers John Lymburn 3,230 14.76% 3,028 Green tickY
Conservative David Duggan 2,665 12.18% 3,028 Green tickY
Labour Charles Gibbs 2,262 10.34% 3,028 Green tickY
Conservative Charles Weaver 2,013 9.20% 2,903 Green tickY
Liberal William R. Howson 1,835 8.39% 2,915 Green tickY
Conservative William Atkinson 1,786 8.16% 2,360 Green tickY
Liberal Warren Prevey 1,331 6.08%
Liberal James Collisson 1,040 4.75%
Labour Alfred Farmilo 832 3.80%
Labour Samuel Barnes 818 3.74%
Independent Jan Lakeman 752 3.44%
Labour Daniel Kennedy Knott 745 3.41%
Conservative N. C. Willson 451 2.06%
Liberal G. V. Pelton 442 2.02%
Conservative J. A. Buchanan 424 1.94%
Independent Joseph Clarke 374 1.71%
Conservative R. D. Tighe 189 0.86%
Total 21,189
Rejected, spoiled and declined 690
Eligible electors / turnout 39,209 55.80%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Election held under single transferable vote with a quota of 3,028 to elect six members to the Legislative Assembly.

1935

Six were elected. Quota was 5324

1935 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
Elected
Liberal William Howson 9,139 24.52% 5,324 Green tickY
Social Credit Samuel A. Barnes 4,476 12.01% 5,324 Green tickY
Social Credit W. S. Hall 2,818 7.56%
Social Credit David B. Mullen 2,500 6.71% 4,932 Green tickY
United Farmers John Farquhar Lymburnn 2,092 5.61%
Social Credit Orvis A. Kennedy 1,781 4.78%
Conservative David Milwyn Duggan 1,466 3.93% 5,078 Green tickY
Liberal George Van Allen 1,255 3.37% 5,324 Green tickY
Social Credit Mark W. Robertson 1,243 3.34%
Liberal Marion Conroy 1,238 3.32%
Conservative William Atkinson 1,220 3.27%
Liberal Gerald O'Connor 1,116 2.99% 4,922 Green tickY
Communist Jan Lakeman 1,096 2.94%
Conservative Frederick Jamieson 1,029 2.76%
Social Credit G. L. King 843 2.26%
Liberal J. C. M. Marshall 673 1.81%
Conservative J. E. Basarab 671 1.80%
Liberal Walter Morrish 612 1.64%
Labour James East 505 1.36%
Conservative Emily Fitzsimon 363 0.97%
Labour James W. Findlay 331 0.89%
Economic Reconstruction Elsie Wright 192 0.52%
Labour Carl Berg 192 0.52%
Labour Sidney Bowcott 166 0.45%
Labour Alfred Farmilo 127 0.34%
Conservative D. M. Ramsay 71 0.19%
Labour Sidney Parsons 52 0.14%
Total 37,267
Rejected, spoiled and declined 785
Eligible electors / turnout 49,212 77.32%
Source(s)
Source: "Edmonton Official Results 1935 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
Election held under single transferable vote to elect six members to the Legislative Assembly.

1936 by-election

By-election necessitated by MLA Howson's resignation. Instant-runoff voting but no vote transfers conducted Liberal W. Morrish elected with majority of votes on the first count.

1937 by-election

By-election necessitated by death of George Van Allen.

Instant-runoff voting but no vote transfers were conducted.

Liberal E.L. Gray was elected with majority of votes on the first count.

1940

Five seats were open in this election. The quota, the number of votes certain to win a seat, was 7291.

This election saw an anti-SC movement, made up of Liberals, Conservatives and some UFA-ers, get many seats. Page, Duggan and Macdonald were elected in Edmonton this election as candidates of the People's League AKA Unity Movement, recorded as Independent in results below. Four of that group's candidates placed in the top five spots in the first count, but this was un-proportional and the process thinned them down.

SC candidate Norman James placed low in the first count but got enough votes from other candidates who were dropped out, and from Manning's surplus votes, to take a seat, pushing out O'Connor, a Unity League candidate. He did this without achieving quota but by being one of the last ones standing when the field of candidates thinned out. Due to his personal popularity, he leapfrogged over a couple SC candidates to take the seat, demonstrating that the STV-PR is about voters' preferences for individual candidates and not party lists.


1940 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
Elected
Social Credit Ernest Manning 10,066 23.32% 7,291 Green tickY
Independent Movement John Percy Page 5,607 12.99% 7,291 Green tickY
Independent Movement Hugh John MacDonald 4,128 9.56% 6,649 Green tickY
Independent Movement David Milwyn Duggan 3,878 8.98% 6,731 Green tickY
Independent Movement Gerald O'Connor 3,392 7.86%
Independent Movement L. Y. Cairns 3,316 7.68%
Co-operative Commonwealth Elmer Roper 1,984 4.60%
Co-operative Commonwealth Harry Dean Ainlay 1,840 4.26%
Independent E. C. Fisher 1,607 3.72%
Social Credit Charles Gould 1,192 2.76%
Social Credit Elisha East 1,117 2.59%
Communist James A. MacPherson 1,067 2.47%
Social Credit Norman B. James 967 2.24% 7,133 Green tickY
Social Credit Charles B. Wills 948 2.20%
Independent Marjorie Pardee 822 1.90%
Co-operative Commonwealth William H. Miller 442 1.02%
Independent G. F. Hustler 400 0.93%
Independent Progressive Samuel Barnes 282 0.65%
Independent Progressive J. H. Green 108 0.25%
Total 43,163
Rejected, spoiled and declined 1,784
Eligible electors / turnout 59,685 75.31%
Source(s)
"Edmonton results 1940 Alberta general election". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
Note: Five seats were awarded in the Edmonton Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 7,291. Ernest Manning and John P. Page were elected on the first count.

Many of the candidates listed as Independents, such as sitting MLA D.M. Duggan, were candidates for the Unity League, an anti-SC alliance of Conservatives, Liberals and others.

1942 by-election

After D.M. Duggan's passing in May 1942, his Edmonton seat was filled in a by-election.

This by-election was run according to Instant-runoff voting, which was used for all by-elections in Alberta in the 1924-1955 period. Voters across Edmonton voted as the city was a single constituency at this time.

There was only one seat being contested. Under IRV ( Alternative Vote), the winner had to take a majority of the valid votes.

Lymburn, a former UFA cabinet minister, was running as an anti-SC Unity League candidate. He did well in the first count surpassing the vote total of the SC candidate; but both being passed by CCF-er Roper. Roper however did not take a majority of the vote.

It became a tight race between front-runners Roper and Lymburn. The winner was not named until the fourth round after three of the five candidates had been eliminated and their second preferences distributed. There was such a high number of exhausted ballots because about half of the voters who voted for the SC, Soldiers Rep and Liberal candidates did not give second preferences.

But finally when the SC candidate, the third from the bottom in the first count, was dropped off in the fourth round, there were only two candidates and one or the other of the candidates would take a majority of the votes still in play. It is possible that in the last round, when the SC candidate was dropped off, most of his voters' second preferences went to Roper, apparently being thought more in tune with SC's help-the-little-guy philosophy than the business-minded Conservative/Liberal-member-dominated Unity League.

September 22, 1942 by-election Turnout 32.71%
Affiliation Candidate 1st % Votes % Count
  Cooperative Commonwealth Elmer Roper 4,834 24.76% 8,432 53.98% 4th
  Social Credit G.B. Giles 4,432 22.70% Eliminated prior to 4th count
  Independent John Lymburn 4,032 20.65% 7,188 46.02% 4th
  Soldier Representative W. Griffin 3,389 17.36% Eliminated prior to 3rd count
  Liberal N.V. Buchanan 2,838 14.53% Eliminated prior to 2nd count
Valid Ballots 19,525 100% 15,620 100%
Exhausted Ballots 3,905 4 Counts

1944

This election was held under Hare Single Transferable Voting STV-PR system.

1944 quota was 6306 (just more than one-sixth of the total valid ballots). Premier Manning got it in the first count, with 8000 votes to spare. His surplus votes (enough on their own to elect another candidate) were spread among the other four SC candidates (according to the voter's next marked preference) so none of the other SC candidates received enough in the 2nd Count to take a seat right off.

Page, running for the anti-SC Unity League, here identified as Independent, was in top five in the first count. The League, winding down, ran only one candidate and League votes were not spread around. He took enough votes in the first count to hold on to take a seat in later counts.

Johnnie Caine, a WWII ace, running as an Independent, was personally popular but did not get quota in the first count and not having a party behind him, did not receive many of the other candidates' second preferences when they were dropped off.

The first candidates to be eliminated were mostly Communists and CCF candidates, whose voters it seems gave their second preferences to their own, such as Roper who took a seat, and then eventually to Norman James, of the SC party. James and William J. Williams were the last two standing when the field of candidates thinned out and they took seats even without achieving the quota.


1944 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
Elected
Social Credit Ernest Manning 14,271 38.45% 6,306 Green tickY
Co-operative Commonwealth Elmer Roper 5,253 14.15% 6,345 Green tickY
Independent Movement John Percy Page 4,603 12.40% 6,333 Green tickY
Veterans' and Active Force William J. Williams 2,818 7.59% 5,535 Green tickY
Independent Johnnie Caine 1,400 3.77%
Social Credit Henry Carrigan 1,188 3.20%
Social Credit Orvis A. Kennedy 876 2.36%
Co-operative Commonwealth Clifford Lee 854 2.30%
Social Credit Norman B. James 781 2.10% 3,532 Green tickY
Social Credit John Gillies 755 2.03%
Labor–Progressive James A. MacPherson 742 2.00%
Co-operative Commonwealth James Enright 649 1.75%
Co-operative Commonwealth M. E. Butterworth 549 1.48%
Co-operative Commonwealth Joseph Dowler 545 1.47%
Labor–Progressive William Halina 496 1.34%
Independent Cecil Chapman 476 1.28%
Independent Clarence Richards 422 1.14%
Labor–Progressive Jan Lakeman 251 0.68%
Labor–Progressive Alex Herd 119 0.32%
Labor–Progressive G.V. Murdoch 72 0.19%
Total 37,120
Rejected, spoiled and declined 2,927
Eligible electors / turnout 65,651 61.00%
Source(s)
"Edmonton results 1944 Alberta general election". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
Note: Five seats were awarded in the Edmonton Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 6,306. Ernest Manning was elected on the first count.

1948

This election was held under Single Transferable Voting STV-PR system, using the Droop quota.

Five were elected.

The quota was 7692, one sixth of the 46,150 total valid votes. Manning got it in first count, with 14,000 votes to spare. His surplus votes helped elect two other SC candidates, Heard and Adams, at the end.

Prowse also got quota but no other Liberal got in on his shirt-tails.

CCF's Elmer Roper too exceeded quota, near to the end. His surplus was not distributed, perhaps because by then the count was at an end with only two candidates left standing to fill two remaining seats. Two SC-ers, Heard and Clayton, took these without achieving quota.

Result was roughly proportional to the first preference vote shares of the three parties that ran in this contest. (The Conservatives stayed out, supporting Page, an opponent of the SC government, running for the Independent Citizens' Association.)

Premier Manning alone took almost half the votes in the first count, and his party took more than half the seats. The CCF took one sixth of the first preference votes and one-fifth of the seats. The Liberals took about one-fifth the votes and one-fifth of the seats. Only about one-tenth of the votes were wasted - this included Page.

On a candidate basis, two of the top five in the first count were not elected. Page was not popular with enough second preferences, while Liberal Lazarowich also did not have holding power. (SC-ers Heard and Clayton replaced them in the top five to take seats.)


1948 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
Elected
Social Credit Ernest Manning 22,014 47.45% 7,692 Green tickY
Co-operative Commonwealth Elmer Roper 6,511 14.03% 8,684 Green tickY
Liberal James Harper Prowse 6,302 13.58% 7,692 Green tickY
Independent Citizen's John Percy Page 2,723 5.87%
Liberal Peter Lazarowich 1,234 2.66%
Co-operative Commonwealth Jack Hampson 1,046 2.25%
Social Credit Clayton Adams 946 2.04% 7,559 Green tickY
Liberal Mary Scullion 942 2.03%
Social Credit Lou Heard 890 1.92% 7,746 Green tickY
Social Credit John Gillies 772 1.66%
Co-operative Commonwealth Mary Crawford 618 1.33%
Liberal Francis Ford 565 1.22%
Social Credit Walter Crockett 523 1.13%
Co-operative Commonwealth Arthur Thornton 498 1.07%
Co-operative Commonwealth J. H. Dowler 370 0.80%
Liberal William Brownlee 442 0.95%
Total 46,396
Rejected, spoiled and declined 880
Eligible electors / turnout 84,391 56.02%
Source(s)
"Edmonton results 1948 Alberta general election". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
Note: Five seats were awarded in the Edmonton Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 7,692. Ernest Manning was elected on the first count.

1952

This election, like the previous six, was held under Hare Single Transferable Voting STV-PR system. Seven seats were filled. Quota was 6505, one-eighth of the 52,039 total valid votes. Five of the seven in winning positions in the First Count were elected at the end.

Manning and Prowse won in the first Count, with votes to spare. Their surplus votes were transferred to a less-popular SC and a Liberal candidate respectively, who then were elected themselves.

Three were elected with partial quotas at the end.

Seats in the end were allocated proportionally to the parties' share of the votes - SC party taking three seats, Liberals taking two, and a Conservative and CCF member also being elected.


1952 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
Elected
Social Credit Ernest Manning 17,022 29.73% 6,505 Green tickY
Liberal James Harper Prowse 7,264 12.69% 6,505 Green tickY
Co-operative Commonwealth Elmer Roper 6,632 11.58% 6,505 Green tickY
Conservative John Percy Page 2,212 3.86% 5,504 Green tickY
Social Credit Joseph Donovan Ross 1,757 3.07% 6,505 Green tickY
Social Credit Ambrose Holowach 1,381 2.41%
Liberal Andre Milville Dechene 1,340 2.34%
Liberal Peter J. Lazarowich 1,136 1.98%
Social Credit Harry D. Carrigan 1,135 1.98%
Social Credit Stella M. Baker 1,126 1.97%
Conservative Marshall E. Manning 1,060 1.85%
Liberal Harold Tanner 875 1.53% 4,921 Green tickY
Social Credit Williston Haszard 834 1.46%
Labor–Progressive Bernard R. Swankey 824 1.44%
Liberal Cora Casselman 819 1.43%
Social Credit Edgar Gerhart 769 1.34% 5,895 Green tickY
Co-operative Commonwealth Robert Atkin 658 1.15%
Liberal Laurette C. Douglas 632 1.10%
Co-operative Commonwealth Roy Jamha 619 1.08%
Co-operative Commonwealth Arthur E. Thornton 612 1.07%
Liberal Duncan Innes 608 1.06%
Co-operative Commonwealth Floyd Albin Johnson 500 0.87%
Conservative Marcel Lambert 432 0.75%
Conservative Frederick John Mitchell 430 0.75%
Co-operative Commonwealth Norman Finnemore 413 0.72%
Co-operative Commonwealth Winnifred Scott 383 0.67%
Conservative Mrs. Arnold Taylor 272 0.48%
Conservative John A. L. Smith 189 0.33%
Conservative Edward Sturrock 105 0.18%
Total 52,039
Rejected, spoiled and declined 5,217
Eligible electors / turnout 108,424 52.81%
Source(s)
"Edmonton results 1952 Alberta general election". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
Note: Seven seats were awarded in the Edmonton Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 6,505. Ernest Manning, James Harper Prowse, and Elmer Roper were elected on the first count.

1955

This election was held under Hare Single Transferable Voting STV-PR system.

Seven members being elected (through STV)

Total votes cast: 82,792 votes.

6248 votes were spoiled and declared rejected. This was said to be due to a change of rules. Outside Edmonton, votes marked with an X were now rejected while previously they had been accepted. And this rule change there might have confused Edmonton voters. Another possible cause was that elections with higher than normal turnout saw inexperienced voters attempting to mark ranked ballots for the first time. Edmonton suffering more than 9 percent spoiled votes in 1952 was possibly caused by the strict rules that election officials had to use - by law any ballot not marked with a "1" was rejected even if the mark used by the voters might have clearly signaled their intention.

Quota was 9569, just more than one-eighth of the 76,544 valid votes. This amount guaranteed election but it was possible to be elected with fewer votes.


1955 Alberta general election
Party Candidate Votes
1st count
% Votes
final count
Elected
Social Credit Ernest Charles Manning 23,216 30.33% 9,569 Green tickY
Liberal James Harper Prowse 18,755 24.50% 9,569 Green tickY
Co-operative Commonwealth Elmer Ernest Roper 4,444 5.81%
Conservative John Percy Page 4,086 5.34% 9,224 Green tickY
Liberal Edgar Bailey 2,971 3.88%
Liberal Andre Dechene 2,877 3.76%
Liberal Abe William Miller 2,787 3.64% 9,569 Green tickY
Social Credit Anthony Hlynka 1,896 2.48%
Liberal J. Laurier Payment 1,640 2.14%
Liberal Harold Tanner 1,604 2.10% 9,569 Green tickY
Social Credit Joseph Donovan Ross 1,575 2.06% 9,483 Green tickY
Social Credit Edgar Gerhart 1,320 1.72% 9,121 Green tickY
Conservative Gifford Main 1,064 1.39%
Labor–Progressive William Harasym 947 1.24%
Co-operative Commonwealth Robert Atkin 940 1.23%
Social Credit William J.M. Henning 785 1.03%
Conservative Gerard Amerongen 692 0.90%
Social Credit Cyril G. Havard 602 0.79%
Social Credit Mrs. C.N. Hattersley 555 0.73%
Liberal Lois Grant 552 0.72%
Conservative Robert F. Lambert 548 0.72%
Co-operative Commonwealth Floyd Johnson 458 0.60%
Conservative Frederick John Mitchell 405 0.53%
Co-operative Commonwealth Mary Crawford 383 0.50%
Co-operative Commonwealth Ivor G. Dent 328 0.43%
Conservative Mrs. John A. L. Smith 299 0.39%
Co-operative Commonwealth Arthur E. Thompson 290 0.38%
Conservative Robert L. Brower 221 0.29%
Co-operative Commonwealth Hubert M. Smith 177 0.23%
Independent Charles E. Payne 127 0.17%
Total 76,544
Rejected, spoiled and declined 6,248
Eligible electors / turnout 127,069 65.15%
Source(s)
"Edmonton results 1955 Alberta general election". Alberta Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
Note: Seven seats were awarded in the Edmonton Electoral District through single transferable vote. The Hare Quota, the number of votes needed to win a seat, was 5,969.

1924-1937 by-elections

These by-elections were conducted using instant-runoff voting (alternative voting).

Party 1937 1936 1931 1924
Liberal Edward Leslie Gray
17,788
W. Morrish
9,863
John C. Bowen
2,934
William Thomas Henry
4,640
Conservative Frederick Jamieson
8,026
Albert Ewing
4,238
Labour Elmer Roper
5,583
H.M. Bartholomew
4,118
People's Candidate Joseph Clarke
10,000
Soldier Representative W. Griffen
3,389
Communist Jan Lakeman
1,779
Jan Lakeman
813
Unity Margaret Crang
6,129
Cooperative Commonwealth Harry Dean Ainlay
2,056
Progressive Labour Margaret Crang
1,275
Independent Rice Sheppard
257
G.V. Pelton
1,131

Plebiscite results

1948 electrification plebiscite

District results from the first province wide plebiscite on electricity regulation.

Option A Option B
Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being continued by the Power Companies? Are you in favour of the generation and distribution of electricity being made a publicly owned utility administered by the Alberta Government Power Commission?
22,351     50.99% 21,478     49.01%
Province wide result: Option A passed.

The result in Edmonton was closely balanced. In part this was due to the choice being between electrical generation by a city-owned corporation or by the provincial government.

1957 liquor plebiscite

1957 Alberta liquor plebiscite results: Edmonton
Question A: Do you approve additional types of outlets for the
sale of beer, wine and spirituous liquor subject to a local vote?
Ballot choice Votes %
Yes 46,219 71.98%
No 17,994 28.02%
Total votes 64,213 100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 75
127,279 eligible electors, turnout 50.94%
Question B2: Should mixed drinking be allowed
in beer parlours in Edmonton and the surrounding areas?
Ballot choice Votes %
Yes 48,645 75.85%
No 15,485 24.15%
Total votes 64,134 100%
Rejected, spoiled and declined 622
127,279 eligible electors, turnout 50.88%

On October 30, 1957, a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in Alberta. The government decided to consult Alberta voters to decide on liquor sales and mixed drinking after a divisive debate in the Legislature. The plebiscite was intended to deal with the growing demand for reforming antiquated liquor control laws.

The plebiscite was conducted in two parts. Question A asked in all districts, asked the voters if the sale of liquor should be expanded in Alberta, while Question B asked in a handful of districts within the corporate limits of Calgary and Edmonton asked if men and woman were allowed to drink together in establishments. Question B was slightly modified depending on which city the voters were in.

Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Edmonton voted overwhelmingly in favor of the plebiscite. The district recorded slightly above average voter turnout almost just over the province wide 46% average with over half of eligible voters casting a ballot.

Edmonton also voted on Question B2. Residents voted for mixed drinking with a super majority. Turnout for question B. Turnout for Question B was slightly lower and than Question A.

Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957. The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding. However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act.

Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the Plebiscite were designated Local Option Zones by the Alberta Liquor Control Board and considered effective dry zones, business owners that wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.

See also

References

  1. ^ Office of the Chief Electoral Officer; Legislative Assembly Office (2006). A Century of Democracy: Elections of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1905-2005. The Centennial Series. Edmonton, AB: Legislative Assembly of Alberta. p. 37. ISBN 0-9689217-8-7. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  2. ^ "Election results for Edmonton". abheritage.ca. Heritage Community Foundation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  3. ^ A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982
  4. ^ A Report on Alberta Elections (1982)
  5. ^ Rek Municipal elections in Edmonton
  6. ^ A Report on Alberta Elections
  7. ^ Office of the Chief Electoral Officer; Legislative Assembly Office (2006). A Century of Democracy: Elections of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1905-2005. The Centennial Series. Edmonton, AB: Legislative Assembly of Alberta. p. 56. ISBN 0-9689217-8-7. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  8. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, April 18, 1913, p. 1
  9. ^ Official "Statement of Count of Ballots" (Provincial Archives of Alberta, file 1971.138, 1970.158)
  10. ^ "C.C.F. Candidate Wins By-Election at Edmonton Tuesday". Red Deer Advocate. September 23, 1942. p. 1.
  11. ^ A Report on the Alberta Election 1905-1982
  12. ^ Jansen, The STV in Alberta and Manitoba, p. 61-62, 87, 90
  13. ^ Alberta Gazette. Vol. 53 (December 31 ed.). Government of Alberta. 1957. pp. 2, 247–2, 249.
  14. ^ "Albertans Vote 2 to 1 For More Liquor Outlets". Vol L No 273. The Lethbridge Herald. October 31, 1957. pp. 1–2.
  15. ^ "No Sudden Change In Alberta Drinking Habits Is Seen". Vol L No 267. The Lethbridge Herald. October 24, 1957. p. 1.
  16. ^ "Entirely New Act On Liquor". Vol LI No 72. The Lethbridge Herald. March 5, 1968. p. 1.
  17. ^ "Bill 81". Alberta Bills 12th Legislature 1st Session. Government of Alberta. 1958. p. 40.

Further reading

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