1918 Calgary municipal election

Election in Alberta, Canada

1918 Calgary municipal election

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| ← 1917 | December 9, 1918 (1918-12-09) | 1919 →

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Candidate  | Robert Colin Marshall | Michael Copps Costello
Popular vote  | 3,428  | 3,234
Percentage  | 51.46%  | 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.

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

### Mayor

[edit]

1918 Calgary municipal election: Mayor

Party  | Candidate  | Votes | % | Elected
| - | Robert Colin Marshall | 3,428 | 51.46% | Y
| - | Michael Copps Costello | 3,234 | 48.54% |
Total valid votes  | 6,662 | -

Source(s)

[5]

### Council

[edit]

1918 Calgary municipal election: Council

Party  | Candidate  | 1st Preference  | %  | Count  | Term Length  | Elected
| - | David Ernest Black | 1,542 | 23.99% | 1st | 2 years | Y
| - | Jack McCoubrey | 844 | 13.13% | 1st | 2 years | Y
| - | Fred J. White | 651 | 10.13% | 8th | 2 years | Y
| - | Issac G. Ruttle | 496 | 7.72% | 13th | 1 years | Y
| - | Frederick Arthur Johnston | 476 | 7.41% | 7th | 2 years | Y
| - | Frederick Ernest Osborne | 455 | 7.08% | 12th | 2 years | Y
| - | Alexander McTaggart | 424 | 6.60% | 13th | 2 years | Y
| - | Dr. Leslie Wright | 354 | 5.51% |
| - | R. Jeff Lydiatt | 307 | 4.78% |
| - | T. McLaughlin | 260 | 4.05% |
| - | Wm. Groves | 244 | 3.80% |
| - | Ed Geehan | 222 | 3.45% |
| - | James Pettigrew | 77 | 1.20% |
| - | J. W. McDonald | 75 | 1.17% |
Total valid votes  | 8,427 | - | -

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

[edit]

1918 Calgary municipal election: Commissioner

Party  | Candidate  | Votes | % | Elected
| - | A. J. Samis | 4,630 | 70.85% | Y
| - | A. W. E. Fawkes | 1,905 | 29.15% |
Total valid votes  | 6,535 | -

Source(s)

[6]

### Public School Board

[edit]

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

Party  | Candidate  | 1st Preference  | %  | Count  | Elected

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| - | Herbert Arthur Sinnott | 1,467 | X% | 2nd | Y
| - | G. S. Corse | 1,047 | X% | 2nd | Y
| - | L. L. Johnson | 953 | X% | X | Y
| - | Melvin M. Downey | 787 | X% |
| - | T. Humphries | X | X% |
| - | D. J. Young | X | X% |
| - | Robert H. Parkyn | X | X% |
| - | Walter Smitten | X | X% |
Total valid votes  | X | -

### Hospital Board

[edit]

The quota was 544 votes.[7]

Party  | Candidate  | 1st Preference  | %  | Count  | Elected

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| - | C. F. Adams | 930 | 24.95% | 1st | Y
| - | S. S. Savage | 528 | 14.17% | 2nd | Y
| - | D. Ormond | 313 | 8.40% | 7th | Y
| - | Mrs. F. A. Davis | 413 | 11.08% | 7th | Y
| - | H. T. Whittemore | 334 | 8.96% | 9th | Y
| - | D. D. Davidson | 248 | 6.65% | 9th | Y
| - | G. T. C. Robinson | 313 | 8.40% |  |
| - | J. R. Harris | 248 | 6.65% |  |
| - | John Harrison | 169 | 4.53% |  |
| - | W. C. McPhee | 133 | 3.57% |  |
| - | James Petrie | 98 | 2.63% |  |
Total valid votes  | 3,727 | - | -

## See also

[edit]

* List of Calgary municipal elections

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b "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

[edit]

* Frederick Hunter: THE MAYORS AND COUNCILS OF THE CORPORATION OF CALGARY Archived March 3, 2020

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