List of Alberta general elections
This article needs to be updated.(April 2019) |
The
Alberta's
In 2015, the NDP were elected to government for the first time in Alberta's history. The NDP had Alberta's only one term government thus far.
In 2019 the newly formed United Conservative Party formed the government.
From 1905 to 1956, Alberta elections used a combination of single-member and multi-member districts. From 1905 to 1924, each voter cast as many votes as seats to be filled in the district. From 1924 to the present, each voter has been able to cast just one vote.[4]
From 1905 to 1924, plurality was enough to be elected.
From 1924 to 1956, each voter cast a
Since 1956, Alberta's elections have used single-member plurality, also known as First-past-the-post voting.[6]
Summary
The table below shows the total number of seats won by each political party in each election. Full details on any election are linked via the year of the election at the start of the row, and details for the legislature that followed the election are available at the legislature number.[7][8] Note that election results show differences at 1926 and 1959, when different electoral systems were adopted, as described in the "Electoral system" section.
Year | Seats | Winner | Legislature | United Conservative Party | Progressive Conservative[A] | Liberal | NDP[B] | Social Credit
|
United Farmers | Dominion Labor | Ind.
|
Other elected members | Other parties | Voter turnout[9][10] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1905 | 25 | Liberal | 1st
|
3 | 22 | |||||||||
1909 | 41 | Liberal | 2nd
|
2 | 36 | 2 | 1 | Socialist | ||||||
1913 | 56[C] | Liberal | 3rd
|
17 | 38 | |||||||||
1917 | 58 | Liberal | 4th
|
19 | 34 | 5 | 1 Labor Representation League 2 Alberta Non-Partisan League 2 non-partisan members elected by Soldiers and Nurses voting in 2-seat district | |||||||
1921 | 61 | United Farmers | 5th
|
15 | 38 | 4 | 4 | |||||||
1926 | 60 | United Farmers | 6th
|
4 | 7 | 43 | 5 | 1 | ||||||
1930 | 63 | United Farmers | 7th
|
6 | 11 | 39 | 4 | 3 | ||||||
1935 | 63 | Social Credit | 8th
|
2 | 5 | 56 | 81.8% | |||||||
1940 | 57 | Social Credit | 9th
|
1 | 36 | 20 | Independent Movement (19), Labour (1) | |||||||
1944 | 60 | Social Credit | 10th
|
2 | 51 | 3 | 4 | Navy, Army and Air Force reps. (overseas, non-partisan)(3); Veterans' and Active Force (Edmonton)(1) | ||||||
1948 | 57 | Social Credit | 11th
|
2 | 2 | 51 | 2 | |||||||
1952 | 60 | Social Credit | 12th
|
2 | 3 | 1 | 53 | 1 | ||||||
1955 | 61 | Social Credit | 13th
|
3 | 15 | 2 | 37 | 3 | 1 | Coalition | ||||
1959 | 65 | Social Credit | 14th
|
1 | 1 | 61 | 1 | 1 | Coalition | |||||
1963 | 63 | Social Credit | 15th
|
2 | 60 | 1 | Coalition | |||||||
1967 | 65 | Social Credit | 16th
|
6 | 3 | 55 | 1 | |||||||
1971 | 75 | PC | 17th
|
49 | 1 | 25 | ||||||||
1975 | 75 | PC | 18th
|
69 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 59.58% | ||||||
1979 | 79 | PC | 19th
|
74 | 1 | 4 | 58.71% | |||||||
1982 | 79 | PC | 20th
|
75 | 2 | 2 | 66.00% | |||||||
1986 | 83 | PC | 21st
|
61 | 4 | 16 | 2 | Representative | 47.25% | |||||
1989 | 83 | PC | 22nd
|
59 | 8 | 16 | 53.60% | |||||||
1993 | 83 | PC | 23rd
|
51 | 32 | 60.21% | ||||||||
1997 | 83 | PC | 24th
|
63 | 18 | 2 | 53.75% | |||||||
2001 | 83 | PC | 25th
|
74 | 7 | 2 | 53.38% | |||||||
2004 | 83 | PC | 26th
|
62 | 16 | 4 | 1 | Alberta Alliance
|
45.12% | |||||
2008 | 83 | PC | 27th
|
72 | 9 | 2 | 40.59% | |||||||
2012 | 87 | PC | 28th
|
61 | 5 | 4 | 17 | Wildrose | 56.96% | |||||
2015 | 87 | NDP | 29th
|
10 | 1 | 54 | 22 | Wildrose (21), Alberta Party (1) | 58.4% | |||||
2019 | 87 | UCP | 30th
|
63 | 24 | 64.0% | ||||||||
2023 | 87 | UCP | 31st
|
49 | 38 | 62.4% |
Notes
- A Known as the Conservative Party prior to 1959.[7]
- B Known as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) prior to 1963.[7]
- C In 1913, 55 people occupied 56 seats.[7] C.W. Cross was elected in two different districts.[6]
Electoral system
Alberta has used a variety of electoral systems in its history, notably a combination of single transferable vote (STV) and instant-runoff voting (IRV) for nearly four decades.
Electoral systems of Alberta
Elections | Edmonton | Calgary | Medicine Hat | Rest of Alberta |
---|---|---|---|---|
1905 | First past the post (Single-member plurality)
| |||
1909 | Double-member Block Voting | First past the post | ||
1913 | Double-member Block Voting | First past the post | ||
1917 | First past the post (except two elected by soldiers and nurses — Block Voting) | |||
1921 | Five-member Block Voting | Double-member Block Voting | First past the post | |
1926 | Five-member Single Transferable Voting | Double-member Single transferable vote | Single-member Instant-runoff voting | |
1930–1955 | Multiple-member (5-7 members per district) Single Transferable Voting | Single-member instant-runoff voting | ||
1959–present | First past the post (Single-member plurality) |
Alberta's
Each was broken up into three single-member districts by 1917, as the overall number of districts increased rapidly. As well 1917 saw two other innovations - election of two MLAs by soldiers and nurses overseas; and automatic re-election of 11 MLAs who were serving in the armed forces.
The Liberal government introduced five-member Block Voting constituencies in Edmonton and Calgary in 1921, and made the Medicine Hat into a two-member district. Each voter in the cities was given five votes, in Medicine Hat two votes. The Liberal party led the vote in Edmonton (although not taking a majority of the city vote) and its candidates received multiple votes from the same voters, together taking more votes than the number of Edmontonians who voted. It won all five of Edmonton's seats. Because each voter cast multiple votes in the cities where UFA ran only one candidate, the Liberal party vote tally is inflated (with many of its supporters casting multiple votes for party candidates) while each UFA vote truly represents an individual voter.[11] Although it did not win any seats in the cities, the United Farmers won most of the rural seats. Overall it won a majority of the seats in the Legislature and formed government.[12][6]
The UFA government, which had campaigned on a promise of electoral reform, retained the existing multi-seat districts and adopted Single Transferable Voting in Edmonton, Calgary and Medicine Hat. Instant-runoff voting (IRV) (AKA Alternative Voting) was put into use elsewhere. STV in Edmonton and Calgary produced mixed roughly proportional results in the election of city MLAs.[13][6]
IRV elsewhere had little impact as the UFA candidates were extremely popular, usually taking a majority of the vote on the First Count. This would be the pattern for the next two decades with the governing party (UFA then
During these eight elections the only modifications made were that Albertans serving in armed forces in 1944 elected three armed force representatives, one for each branch - army, navy and air force; Medicine Hat was changed to a single-member district prior to the 1930 election; and the number of MLAs sitting for Edmonton and Calgary changed over time.[6]
Until recently, the pattern has been for one party to take a majority of the seats outside the cities, usually by a majority of the vote outright. Due to the relative small number of seats in the cities, that ensured the party's ascendancy to power. The UFA did not, but the SC and Conservative governments usually took several city seats as well as most of the rural seats.
This pattern was modulated in the 1950s. Due to change to First past the post in the cities, the one-party ascendency was raised to higher level.
In 1955, the SC government was re-elected with a great majority of the seats but for the first time IRV changed the outcome in four districts. In these districts a SC candidate led in the first count but did not take a majority of the vote and each lost out when votes were transferred as per IRV.[6]
Following this turn of events,
First past the post remains the system used in Alberta and throughout Canada for provincial and federal elections.[6][5]
See also
- Timeline of Canadian elections
- List of political parties in Alberta – for present and historical political parties in Alberta.
References
- ^ "Legislative Assembly Act". Queen's Printer. 1983. Section 3(1). Retrieved March 17, 2011.
- ^ Elections Alberta (2008). "Common Questions". Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
- ^ Office Consolidation (2000). "Election Act". Province of Alberta. Alberta Queen's Printer. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
1.1.1.nn ""writ" means a writ of election issued by the Chief Electoral Officer pursuant to an order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council."
39.0 "Every election shall be commenced by the passing of an order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council" - ^ A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982; Parliamentary Guides
- ^ a b Parliamentary Guide
- ^ a b c d e f g h A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982
- ^ a b c d Elections Alberta (May 30, 2008). "Candidate Summary of Results (General Elections 1905–2004)". Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
- ^ Elections Alberta (2008). "General Election Reports (1997–2008)". Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
- ^ Election Alberta (July 28, 2008). 2008 General Report (PDF). p. 158. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
- ^ Elections Alberta (November 25, 2007). "General Elections 1975-2004 (Overall Summary of Ballots Cast and % of Voter Turnout)". Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
- ^ A Report on Alberta Elections (1982)
- ^ "The PC dynasty falls: Understanding Alberta's history of one-party rule". Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ Barnes, André; Lithwick, Dara; Virgint, Erin (January 11, 2016). "Electoral Systems and Electoral Reform in Canada and Elsewhere: An Overview". Library of Parliament. Ottawa. Archived from the original on July 4, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.