1918 Calgary municipal election

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1918 Calgary municipal election
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←  1917 December 9, 1918 (1918-12-09) 1919  →
  RCMarshall.jpg MCostello.jpg
Candidate Robert Colin Marshall Michael Copps Costello
Popular vote3,4283,234
Percentage51.46%48.54%
Mayor before election

Michael Copps Costello

Elected mayor

Robert Colin Marshall

The 1918 Calgary municipal election was held on December 9, 1918, to a Mayor and six Aldermen to sit on Calgary City Council. Additionally a Commissioner, three members for the Public School Board were elected.

Contents

There were twelve aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: Samuel Hunter Adams, Andrew Graham Broatch, Frank Roy Freeze, Annie Gale, and Albert Mahaffy were all elected to two-year terms in 1917 and were still in office. Robert Colin Marshall was elected as an Alderman in 1917 for a two-year term, but resigned to run for mayor.

A number of plebiscites were held, all requiring a majority to pass.

The election was held under the Single Transferable Voting/Proportional Representation (STV/PR) with the term for Alderman being two years and the Mayor being one year. The Alderman seat vacated by Marshall would be held by the 7th-place finisher in the election for a period of one year. [1]

Background

The election would take place during the 1918 influenza pandemic which was first reported in Calgary two months before the election on October 3, 1918, by 15 soldiers returning to Canada from the First World War. By November 30, 1918, the pandemic had effected almost every Alberta community with more than 26,000 cases. [2]

The Calgary Daily Herald would also set a "brilliant colored" flare above the Herald Building to announce the elected mayor, red should Marshall win and yellow should Costello be elected.

This would be the second municipal election held with the proportional vote system in Calgary, and there was an expectation there would be several invalid ballots due to electors marking preference with an "x" rather than numerically by preference. However, there would be far fewer spoiled ballots in the 1918 election then the 1917 election. Following the election the editors of the Calgary Daily Herald would comment on "carelessness" in the preparation of voters' lists which left many people without the ability to vote, stating "An inaccurate voters' list is almost worse than none at all". [1] [3] [4]

Results

Mayor

1918 Calgary municipal election : Mayor
PartyCandidateVotes%Elected
- Robert Colin Marshall 3,42851.46%Green check.svgY
- Michael Copps Costello 3,23448.54%
Total valid votes6,662-
Source(s)
[5]

Council

1918 Calgary municipal election: Council
PartyCandidate1st Preference%CountTerm lengthElected
- David Ernest Black 1,54223.99%1st2 yearsGreen check.svgY
- Jack McCoubrey 84413.13%1st2 yearsGreen check.svgY
- Fred J. White 65110.13%8th2 yearsGreen check.svgY
- Issac G. Ruttle 4967.72%13th1 yearsGreen check.svgY
- Frederick Arthur Johnston 4767.41%7th2 yearsGreen check.svgY
- Frederick Ernest Osborne 4557.08%12th2 yearsGreen check.svgY
- Alexander McTaggart 4246.60%13th2 yearsGreen check.svgY
- Dr. Leslie Wright 3545.51%
- R. Jeff Lydiatt 3074.78%
- T. McLaughlin 2604.05%
- Wm. Groves 2443.80%
- Ed Geehan 2223.45%
-James Pettigrew771.20%
- J. W. McDonald 751.17%
Total valid votes8,427--
Source(s)
[5] The election was held under the Single Transferable Voting/Proportional Representation (STV/PR).
Totals above are first preference votes.
The quota necessary to be elected was 804.

Commissioner

1918 Calgary municipal election : Commissioner
PartyCandidateVotes%Elected
- A. J. Samis 4,63070.85%Green check.svgY
- A. W. E. Fawkes 1,90529.15%
Total valid votes6,535-
Source(s)
[6]

Public School Board

Quota necessary for election was 1,512. [1]

PartyCandidate1st Preference%CountElected
- Herbert Arthur Sinnott 1,467X%2ndGreen check.svgY
- G. S. Corse 1,047X%2ndGreen check.svgY
- L. L. Johnson 953X%XGreen check.svgY
- Melvin M. Downey 787X%
- T. Humphries XX%
-D. J. YoungXX%
- Robert H. Parkyn XX%
- Walter Smitten XX%
Total valid votesX-

Hospital Board

The quota was 544 votes. [7]

PartyCandidate1st Preference%CountElected
- C. F. Adams 93024.95%1stGreen check.svgY
- S. S. Savage 52814.17%2ndGreen check.svgY
- D. Ormond 3138.40%7thGreen check.svgY
- Mrs. F. A. Davis 41311.08%7thGreen check.svgY
- H. T. Whittemore 3348.96%9thGreen check.svgY
- D. D. Davidson 2486.65%9thGreen check.svgY
-G. T. C. Robinson3138.40%
-J. R. Harris2486.65%
-John Harrison1694.53%
-W. C. McPhee1333.57%
-James Petrie982.63%
Total valid votes3,727--

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "MARSHALL WINS OVER COSTELLO BY 194 MAJORITY". The Calgary Daily Herald. No. 4905. December 10, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  2. ↑ Zurowski, Monica (March 13, 2020). "In 1918, Spanish flu pulled into Calgary on a train. Here's how the city coped". Calgary Herald. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Red Flare---Marshall Wins Yellow Flare---Costello Wins". The Calgary Daily Herald. No. 4904. December 9, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  4. ↑ "VOTERS' LIST ERRORS". The Calgary Daily Herald. No. 4906. December 11, 1918. p. 6. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  5. 1 2 "MARSHALL WINS OVER COSTELLO BY 194 MAJORITY". The Calgary Daily Herald. No. 4905. December 10, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Vote for Mayor and Commissioner in Detail". The Calgary Daily Herald. No. 4905. December 10, 1918. p. 15. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Election for Hospital Board is Determined After Lengthy Count". The Calgary Daily Herald. No. 4906. December 11, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2020.

Sources

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