1944 Alberta general election

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox election The 1944 Alberta general election was held on August 8, 1944, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

As well, in late 1944 and early 1945, Albertans serving in the military voted for separate representation - by electing an Army, an Air Force and a Navy representative (see "Soldiers' vote" below).<ref>A Century of Democracy (Centennial series)</ref>

The election was the first contested by leader Ernest C. Manning. Previously Provincial Secretary, he became leader of the Social Credit Party and premier after party founder, Premier William Aberhart, died in 1943. Manning steered the party down a more moderate path, largely dispensing with the party's social credit policies of monetary reform that it had been mostly unable to implement. The provinces's improved economic position meanwhile made such reforms less pressing.

Manning led Social Credit to a third term in government with a resounding victory in the 1944 election, winning 85 percent of the seats with just over 50 percent of the popular vote on the first count of ballots. Preferential voting was used, under Single transferable voting in the cities and Instant-runoff voting elsewhere.

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation entered the election with only one seat in the legislature belonging to party leader Elmer Roper who had won a 1942 by-election. Despite winning almost a quarter of the popular vote the party won only two seats in the general election.

The Conservative party and former United Farmers continued their strategy of running joint candidates as Independents. Not supported by the Liberals, who left the coalition, the anti-SC joint effort lost much of its previous share of the popular vote. The Liberal Party though did not run candidate under its own banner in this election.

Albertan servicemen and veterans from World War II were able to vote in the first phase of the election on August 4, 1944. There was also a second vote held to elect three Canadian Armed Forces representatives from amongst the Albertans who were in active service overseas, or those who missed the first vote.

This provincial election, like the previous four, saw district-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting) used to elect the MLAs of Edmonton and Calgary. City-wide districts were used to elect multiple MLAs in the cities. All the other MLAs were elected in single-member districts through Instant-runoff voting. All voters in the province had the opportunity to cast ranked ballots. The Army, Navy and Air Force members were elected through single-winner first-past-the-post voting.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The campaign

The 1944 election, was the first general election contested by Premier Ernest Manning. Manning had taken over the Social Credit Party from William Aberhart who died unexpectedly a year earlier. Social Credit faced opposition from the Independents led by James Walker who had also just been elected leader and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation who had just managed to win a seat in a by-election in Edmonton and win a majority in the 1944 Saskatchewan general election. Like Social Credit and the Independents they were also contesting their first general election with new leader Elmer Roper.

The stage for the general election was set when Social Credit won a critical by-election in Red Deer in December 1943. The by-election win gave momentum to Social Credit as they picked it up from the Independents. After the election they decided to speed up their plans and hold the election in the summer time.<ref name="Plans">Template:Cite news</ref>

Two major changes occurred this election with the way that votes were to be counted and who could vote. Ballots in single member electoral districts were now allowed to be marked with an "X" to indicate a first choice preference. Prior to this election high numbers of ballots had been declared as spoiled because they were not marked with a "1". Preferences beyond the first choice still had to be marked with a number indicating that preference.<ref name="pref">Template:Cite news</ref> The 1944 election also marked the first time that Japanese Canadians resident in Alberta were eligible to vote in a provincial election. There were two thousand Japanese who had previously been moved from British Columbia to Alberta under wartime provisions.<ref name="japs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Although they had been here (involuntarily in some cases) more than a year and were not barred on racial grounds from voting, they were denied the right to vote because the status of their residency was of a temporary nature according to election officials.<ref>"2000 Japanese will be barred from balloting", Edmonton Bulletin, August 7, 1944, p. 2</ref>

After the writ was dropped, Manning pushed the election as a referendum on the future of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation party. Independent candidates (pushed forward by the Conservative and Liberal parties who were absent from the election) and Social Credit asked their supporters to mark their first and second preferences for candidates of their parties to try to ensure the CCF was not elected.<ref name="bigissue">Template:Cite news</ref>

Social Credit

The Social Credit government had been re-elected with a thin majority government in 1940 after failing to fulfill many of its promises of monetary reform whose popularity had allowed it to sweep to power in the 1935 election. The party was also rising in popularity since Ernest Manning became Premier in 1943 after the death of William Aberhart. Manning steered the party away from its previous policies that included Social Credit monetary theory and media control.

The centrepiece of Social Credit's policy in this election was a plan on refunding Alberta's large debt that had been built up under the Liberal and by the United Farmer and Social Credit governments during the Depression.

Independent Movement

The Independent Citizen's Association, led into the election by James Walker, had been organized as a coalition of Conservatives, Liberals and United Farmers who grouped together to try to defeat the Social Credit government in late 1930s and in the 1940 election. Despite being an organized party, its candidates are often identified as Independents. The coalition weakened when the Alberta Liberal Party left just before the 4th Legislative Session opened in February 1944.<ref name="oped">Template:Cite news</ref> Despite the split, the Liberal party did not run candidates under its own name in the 1944 election.<ref>"Think and vote" Edmonton Bulletin, August 5, 1944, p. 1</ref>

Walker was elected leader of the Independent Citizens Association at a convention held in Calgary on January 23, 1944. He defeated David Elton in a two-way contest.<ref name="leadconind">Template:Cite news</ref> There was considerable interest in the convention as over 300 delegates from across Alberta showed up to vote. Walker was elected on the first ballot winning a decisive victory. This was the first time since the Association had been created that a permanent leader was selected.<ref name="leadcon2">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1944, four ICA candidates ran in Edmonton; three in Calgary.

Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)

The left-leaning Cooperative Commonwealth Federation had enjoyed tremendous growth over the previous couple of years. In 1942 the provincial branch reorganized at a convention in Edmonton and merged the provincial branch of the Canadian Labor Party into the CCF. Prior to that date the two parties had been affiliated but had operated separately.<ref name="ccfinab">Template:Cite news</ref> After the merger the party won an Edmonton by-election on September 22, 1942, to elect their leader Elmer Roper to the Assembly.<ref name="byelec">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Shortly before the writs were dropped in this election the Saskatchewan CCF swept the 1944 Saskatchewan general election. Manning called the general election to defuse a possible surge in support for the CCF.<ref name="oped"/>

The CCF provincially had struck a deal with the Labor Progressive Party (the Communist Party) to run fusion candidates in some electoral districts. The first time this agreement was put to work was in the December 1943 Red Deer by-election where James MacPherson, LPP leader, endorsed CCF candidate E.P. Johns.

The 1944 election was the first provincial election where the CCF fielded a full slate of candidates. It was the only party in 1944 to do so other than Social Credit. (There was no need for fusion candidates or restriction on running too many candidates as transferable votes used at that time in all districts in Alberta avoided the harmful effects of vote splitting.) Newly elected Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas came to Calgary and Edmonton to speak during the campaign.<ref>"CCF plans tax on interest...", Edmonton Bulletin, August 5. 1944, p. 1</ref>

CCF leader Elmer Roper was quoted in Edmonton Bulletin that if elected, the first thing a CCF government would do is take over Calgary Power.<ref>"CCF planning to take over Calgary Power", Edmonton Bulletin, August 3. 1944, p. 3</ref>

Labor-Progressive Party

The LPP had contested elections previously under the Communist banner, but had changed its name to be in line with the federal party, after they had all been outlawed.

The Labor-Progressive Party, led by James MacPherson, aimed to run candidates in the major cities and in mining communities.<ref name="oped"/> They did run 30 candidates.

In some electoral districts where LPP candidates did not run, the LPP and the CCF ran fusion candidates.<ref name="eckville">Template:Cite news</ref> A proposal by the Labor Progressive Party to run fusion candidates with the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation at the federal level was rejected by the national council.

Farmer-Labor

File:Victor johanson farmer-labor leader.PNG

Victor Johanson Farmer-Labor Leader

The Farmer-Labor election committee was a minor political party created by Victor Johanson. He was a farmer residing near the small town of Bentley, Alberta. Johanson was originally selected as a fusion candidate for the Labor Progressive Party and Cooperative Commonwealth Federation to contest the Rocky Mountain House electoral district.

Shortly before the general election was called, the Rocky Mountain House CCF constituency association broke away and voted not to support Johanson and to nominate its own candidate instead.

Johanson then created his own Farmer-Labor banner that he and his supporters operated under.<ref name="brokeoff"/>

Johanson's Farmer-Labor banner was the least successful of the four single-candidate parties that operated in the general election (the other three were the Veterans' and Active Force party; the Single Tax party; and Labour United). Johanson finished last in his district and in the provincial standings, winning just 0.13% of the total vote in the province. After the election Johanson did not contest another provincial election, effectively ending the party.

Farmer-Labor's 1944 election platform had seven policy planks. These planks covered primarily local issues to appeal to coal miners working and living at Nordegg, Alberta. Crop insurance and raised commodity prices was also promised to appeal to area farmers. Other policy planks promised help to veterans returning from the war and improvements for local transportation infrastructure.<ref name="farmlabplat">Template:Cite news</ref>

Farmer-Labor Platform

• Adequate prices for all farm produce.
• Better system for providing for crop losses and improvement in the Prairie Farmers' Assistance Act.
• More liberal grants for roads in rural areas, based on funds collected from car and truck licenses and taxes collected from gasoline sales in each district.
• A hard-surfaced road to the company town of Nordegg. Labor Legislation and a Labor Code of Rights to be administered by the Minister of Labor.
• Old age pensions at a younger age, regardless of property owned. A more liberal monthly pay so that the pensioners can enjoy a better life then at present.
• Rehabilitation of the Armed Forces in Peacetime Production and a higher standard of living than in the past.
• Better opportunities for the youth in the post-war years.

Election night

On election night Manning's Social Credit party won a landslide victory with 52 percent of the first preference vote.

Mixture of Social Credit and Opposition MLAs were elected in Calgary and Edmonton, where STV ensured proportional results, and Social Credit swept the rural districts. In almost all the rural districts, the SC candidate took a majority of votes in the First Count and that person was declared elected. But in others, where the SC candidate did not take a majority of the votes in the First Count, vote transfer(s) were conducted as per the Alternative Voting system and in each case the Social Credit candidate was elected. Except for Banff-Cochrane, the final winner in each single-member district was the same as would have won under first past the post. In Banff-Cochrane, the leader in the first count was an Independent Movement candidate but when votes were transferred from the eliminated CCF candidate, most of the votes went to the SC candidate.<ref>A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982, p. 61</ref>

The anti-SC coalition Independents did not run a candidate in every riding and were seen by the voters as lacking credibility. Most of their voters swung to Social Credit as a strategic vote to prevent the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation party from electing members.<ref name="time2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The anti-SC coalition had lost its whipping boy, William Aberhart. The 1944 election was fought mostly as a two-party contest between the conservative Ernest Manning government and the leftist CCF, which was relatively popular due to wartime anti-fascist sentiment.

The opposition parties conceded defeat just twenty six minutes after the polls closed.<ref name="didelecnight">Template:Cite news</ref>

Key races

Edmonton

The Edmonton electoral district elected five members by single transferable vote. Twenty candidates ran in the district including four party leaders. Social Credit leader Ernest Manning, who had been appointed premier in 1943, was easily the most recognizable candidate in the field. Elmer Roper, CCF leader, had won a seat in Edmonton almost two years earlier in a by-election and was running for re-election. The other party leaders were James MacPherson, of the Labor Progressive Party, and William J. Williams, of the Veterans' and Active Force group.

Manning won his seat in the First Count. It took 16 vote transfers to fill the last seat but in the end candidates of four different groups were elected to represent Edmonton - 2 SC (including leader Manning), 1 (anti-SC Independent of the Independent Citizens Aassociation), 1 CCF (leader Roper) and Williams, leader and sole candidate of the Veterans and Active Force group.<ref>Official Returns filed by the Returning officer, PAA (Edmonton), 1971.138, 158</ref> The three opposition MLAs elected in Edmonton joined with three elected in Calgary. Those six were the only opposition MLAs elected to the Legislature in this election.

Red Deer

The results of the December 1943 by-election in Red Deer had led Social Credit government to speed up plans for the general election. Incumbent Social Credit MLA David Ure was running for his second term in office.He was elected, taking majority of votes on the first count.

Rocky Mountain House

Farmer-Labor candidate and leader Victor Johanson was nominated at a joint Cooperative Commonwealth Federation/Labor Progressive convention on February 17, 1944. Shortly before the election the CCF riding association broke off and nominated candidate George Morrison to run under their banner.<ref name="brokeoff">Template:Cite news</ref> Incumbent Social Credit MLA Alfred Hooke was running for re-election. He had been appointed by Premier Manning as Provincial Secretary, when he had formed his cabinet in 1943, after Aberhart's death. The Independents did not nominate a candidate in this riding. On election night Hooke was easily re-elected, winning a majority of the votes on the first count.<ref name="rocky">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>A Report on Alberta Elections, 1905-1982</ref>

Warner

The Warner electoral district was hotly contested by Independent leader James Walker and Provincial Treasurer Solon Low. Low had been defeated by Walker in the 1940 general election and won a by-election held in the Vegreville electoral district on June 20, 1940. The field of candidates was rounded out by W.M. Madge who ran under the Single Tax banner and R.B. Eshorn of the CCF. On election night, Low won a stunning first count victory, taking a majority of the votes first off and defeating Walker, Madge and Eshorn.

Results

Elections to the 10th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1944)

Party		Leader	Candidates	First-preference votes						Seats
				Votes	±	% Template:Abbr	Change (pp)			1940	1944	±
rowspan="5" Template:Canadian party colour|	Canadian Armed Forces representatives<ref group=a>One for each branch, elected under first past the post rules</ref>
Template:Canadian party colour		22	6,125
Template:Canadian party colour		7	1,207
Template:Canadian party colour		3	653
Military vote		32	7,985	7,985Template:Increase	2.75	Template:Bartable	–	Template:Composition bar	3Template:Increase	Ernest C. Manning	57	146,367	13,860Template:Increase	50.46	Template:Bartable	36	Template:Composition bar	15Template:Increase	James H. Walker	36	47,239	83,364Template:Decrease	16.28	Template:Bartable	19	Template:Composition bar	16Template:Decrease	Elmer Roper	57	70,307	35,991Template:Increase	24.24	Template:Bartable	–	Template:Composition bar	2Template:Increase	William Williams	1	3,532	3,532Template:Increase	1.22	Template:Bartable	–	Template:Composition bar	1Template:Increase Template:Canadian party colour<ref group=a>compared against 1940 Communist results</ref>	James A. MacPherson	30	12,003	10,936Template:Increase	4.14	Template:Bartable	–	Template:Composition bar	–		Did not campaign				Template:Bartable	1	Template:Composition bar	1Template:Decrease		Did not campaign				Template:Bartable	1	Template:Composition bar	1Template:Decrease	Labor United		1	1,788	1,788Template:Increase	0.62		1	480	480Template:Increase	0.16		1	390	390Template:Increase	0.13
Total			216	290,091		100.00%
Rejected ballots				8,082	2,533Template:Decrease
Turnout				298,173	21,306Template:Decrease	70.7%	4.1Template:Decrease
Registered voters				421,501	5,834Template:Decrease

MLAs elected

Servicemember MLAs
Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Col-end Template:Reflist

Synopsis of results

Results by ridingTemplate:Snd1944 Alberta general election (all except Calgary, Edmonton and servicemember MLAs)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Riding	First-preference votes						Turnout <ref group=a>including spoilt ballots</ref>	Final counts				Winning party
Name	SC	CCF	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Total		SC	CCF	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	1940		1944
Acadia-Coronation	2,930	1,215	595	–	–	4,740	82.3%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Alexandra	2,212	1,504	–	151	–	3,867	65.9%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Athabasca	2,288	1,410	–	560	–	4,258	61.4%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Banff-Cochrane	1,568	902	1,602	–	–	4,072	73.5%	1,805	–	1,757	–		IndM		SC
Beaver River	2,747	1,403	–	385	–	4,535	69.5%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Bow Valley-Empress	2,131	1,033	625	–	–	3,789	74.3%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Bruce	2,024	1,274	467	–	–	3,765	67.2%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Camrose	2,763	1,590	623	–	–	4,976	72.1%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Cardston	2,104	569	592	–	–	3,265	72.2%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Clover Bar	2,969	1,693	–	–	–	4,662	71.9%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Cypress	1,747	705	973	–	–	3,425	74.8%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Didsbury	2,485	728	966	–	–	4,179	70.6%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Drumheller	2,243	671	–	713	–	3,627	78.2%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Edson	2,536	1,280	–	587	–	4,403	66.9%	Elected on 1st count					Lab		SC
Gleichen	2,032	942	1,072	–	–	4,046	74.8%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Grande Prairie	2,366	1,128	736	–	–	4,230	97.7%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Grouard	2,612	1,560	–	387	–	4,559	67.3%	Elected on 1st count					Lib		SC
Hand Hills	3,125	873	532	–	–	4,530	80.5%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Lac Ste. Anne	2,209	1,767	–	–	–	3,976	63.6%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Lacombe	2,442	1,324	775	–	–	4,541	73.6%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Leduc	2,764	1,186	–	155	–	4,105	67.2%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Lethbridge	2,367	1,464	2,247	219	–	6,297	69.0%	2,692	–	2,388	–		IndM		SC
Little Bow	1,958	767	826	–	–	3,551	76.3%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Macleod	2,440	972	989	152	–	4,553	75.4%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Medicine Hat	2,977	696	1,457	536	–	5,366	71.3%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Okotoks-High River	2,932	1,444	2,196	–	–	6,572	67.8%	3,425	–	2,347	–		IndM		SC
Olds	3,196	776	832	–	–	4,804	90.3%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Peace River	2,503	940	806	385	–	4,634	62.7%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Pembina	2,400	1,498	820	–	–	4,718	71.2%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	2,109	962	–	–	1,788	4,859	73.2%	2,228	–	–	1,870		SC		SC
Ponoka	2,208	1,016	778	237	–	4,239	72.9%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Red Deer	3,012	1,282	1,545	–	–	5,839	73.1%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Redwater	2,390	817	–	882	–	4,089	68.4%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Rocky Mountain House	2,936	1,302	–	–	390	4,628	67.3%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
St. Albert	2,097	1,222	918	–	–	4,237	68.5%	2,491	1,357	–	–		IndM		SC
St. Paul	1,851	1,503	–	771	–	4,125	63.7%	1,949	1,588	–	–		SC		SC
Sedgewick	2,793	840	813	–	–	4,446	76.0%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Spirit River	1,984	1,178	–	302	–	3,464	64.5%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Stettler	2,811	1,103	760	–	–	4,674	77.2%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Stony Plain	2,557	1,371	–	–	–	3,928	70.0%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Taber	2,490	679	413	–	–	3,582	73.8%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Vegreville	1,874	1,306	–	653	–	3,833	64.7%	1,923	1,493	–	–		SC		SC
Vermilion	2,239	991	–	999	–	4,229	68.2%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Wainwright	2,939	1,300	–	234	–	4,473	70.8%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Warner	1,621	415	629	–	480	3,145	75.1%	Elected on 1st count					IndM		SC
Wetaskiwin	2,700	1,259	1,007	164	–	5,130	62.2%	Elected on 1st count					SC		SC
Willingdon	1,771	1,328	–	899	–	3,998	68.1%	1,844	1,448	–	–		SC		SC

Template:Color box = Open seat

Template:Color box = turnout is above provincial average

Template:Color box = Candidate was in previous Legislature

Template:Color box = Incumbent had switched allegiance

Template:Color box = Previously incumbent in another riding

Template:Color box = Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

Template:Color box = Incumbency arose from by-election gain

Template:Color box = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

Template:Color box = Multiple candidates

Multi-member districts

District	Seats won (in order declared)
Calgary	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |
Edmonton	Template:Canadian party colour |	Template:Canadian party colour |	Template:Canadian party colour |	Template:Canadian party colour | Template:Abbr	Template:Canadian party colour |

width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	Social Credit
Template:Canadian party colour |	Independent Movement
Template:Canadian party colour | Template:Abbr	Veteran's & Active Force
Template:Canadian party colour |	CCF

Template:Color box = Candidate was in previous Legislature

Template:Color box = First-time MLA

(Liesemer (CCF) was 5th candidate to be elected in Calgary, receiving the least number of votes of the successful candidates.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>)

STV and instant-runoff voting analysis

Exhausted votes

Ten districts went beyond first-preference counts in order to determine winning candidates:

Exhausted votes (1944)

District	Counts		Exhausted
	1st preference	Final	Votes	% of 1st pref
Calgary	39,309	36,238	3,071	Template:Bartable
Edmonton	37,834	35,087	2,747	Template:Bartable
Banff-Cochrane	4,072	3,562	800	Template:Bartable
Lethbridge	6,297	5,080	1,217	Template:Bartable
Okotoks-High River	6,572	5,772	130	Template:Bartable
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	4,859	4,108	751	Template:Bartable
St. Albert	4,237	3,848	389	Template:Bartable
St. Paul	4,125	3,537	588	Template:Bartable
Vegreville	3,833	3,416	417	Template:Bartable
Willingdon	3,998	3,292	706	Template:Bartable

In Edmonton and Calgary, a high proportion of the votes that were not exhausted were used to elect a member.

In Edmonton, only 5171 of the active votes (only 12 percent of valid votes) were not used to elect the winners. These were the votes received by Kennedy, the only candidate not to be either elected or eliminated.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In Calgary, only 3608 of the active votes (only 9 percent of valid votes) were not used to elect the winners. These were the votes received by Robert Alderman, the only candidate not to be either elected or eliminated.<ref name=":0" />

Calgary

All parties other than the Independent Movement fielded full slates.

Party		Candidates			MLAs elected
		1944	1940	±	1944	1940	±	4	6	2Template:Decrease	2	3	3Template:Decrease	5	4	1Template:Increase	2	2	Template:No change	5	2	3Template:Increase	1	–	1Template:Increase	–	1	1Template:Decrease	–	–	–	–	1	1Template:Decrease	–	–	–	5	–	5Template:Increase	–	–	–
Total		19	14	5Template:Increase	5	5	Template:No change

Edmonton

Three parties had full slates. The Independent Movement presented four candidates, and Williams (V&A.F.) campaigned under his own banner.

Party		Candidates			MLAs elected
		1944	1940	±	1944	1940	±	5	5	Template:No change	2	2	Template:No change	5	3	2Template:Increase	1	–	1Template:Increase	4	7	3Template:Decrease	1	3	2Template:Decrease	1	–	1Template:Increase	1	–	1Template:Increase	5	1	4Template:Increase	–	–	–	–	2	2Template:Decrease	–	–	–	–	1	1Template:Decrease	–	–	–
Total		20	19	1Template:Increase	5	5	Template:No change

Soldiers' vote

The second phase of the general election took place beginning in November 1944 and ending January 1945. Three members of the armed forces commissioned in World War II were elected to represent Alberta service men and women fighting or stationed overseas. In addition those who were in veterans hospitals at the time of the vote and retired service personnel who already returned from duty but missed the August 4, 1944, vote.

The votes for the special seats set aside for Albertans serving in the armed forces were tallied from four geographic areas:<ref name="milvote">Template:Cite book</ref>

Area	Description
1	Canada (outside Alberta), Newfoundland, Bermuda, the United States of America, and any other country not included in the other areas listed.
2	Italy and all other countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea (excepting France.
3	Europe, excepting those countries in Areas 2 and 4.
4	Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Iceland

The following votes were received:<ref name="milvote" />

Branch	Area
	1	2	3	4	Total
Army	673	2,388	1,972	1,092	6,125
Air Force	689	18	121	379	1,207
Navy	419	5	8	221	653
Total	1,781	2,411	2,101	1,692	7,985

Servicemembers inside Alberta used special ballots for voting in their districts. Only Calgary provided a detailed breakdown.<ref name="Herald44" />

District	Party				Total
	SC	CCF	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr
Calgary	331	244	192	43	810

Approximately 4,000 military votes were received in Edmonton,<ref name="Journal44">Template:Cite news</ref> but no separate figures were reported in the final results. After 3,000 had been counted, some officials said that the vote was mainly for Social Credit.<ref name="Journal44" />

This election was not run under the Elections Act and was instead run from an executive council order. This meant that the laws regarding eligibility by age and the Instant runoff voting system did not apply to the armed forces' vote. Saskatchewan was the only other province or state to implement an election for service men in World War II.<ref name="timeoct">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The service men vote had been pushed for by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) opposition. Elmer Roper harshly criticized the Social Credit government for having no plans to make voting options available for persons serving overseas.

The Social Credit government responded by announcing that there would be an election of the soldiers' representatives, but it had not decided the date of the vote prior to the first phase of general election being completed.<ref name="votecomin">Template:Cite news</ref>

The soldiers' Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were meant to be non-partisan and sat on the opposition side of the Assembly. The order in council forebode any candidate running in the election from contesting it along party lines. The vote also temporarily increased the number of seats in the Assembly from 57 to 60. One member represented each branch of the service: Army, Navy and Air Force. This was the second soldiers' wartime vote held in the province's history, the first being the soldiers' and nurses vote held as the second part of the 1917 Alberta general election.

The writ period began in late November 1944. A total of 32 candidates registered to run in the election. The seat provided for the Army was hotly contested with 22 candidates, the Navy had three candidates and the Air Force had 7 candidates. The polls were open a record length of time as the voting was conducted from January 8, 1945, to January 20, 1945. Polling stations were set up on the front lines and at army bases where Albertans were stationed around the world. Four Chief Returning Officers were appointed to conduct the vote, a record that stands to this day. The vote was conducted under First Past the Post rules with no ballot transfers. Elsewhere in the Alberta 1944 election, Instant-runoff voting was used to elect single members, and votes were transferred if necessary because to be elected a successful candidate had to have a majority of votes.

The official results from the vote conducted in Alberta were released on January 31, 1945. The votes for the rest of the world were released on January 6, 1945.

An oddity of this vote is that the Government of Alberta did not print an official document detailing the election results or expenses of operating the election for the general public as it did with the rest of the general election that year. This was because the executive council order made by the Social Credit government did not require it.

Full printing of the official results did appear in both the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Albertan as they were announced by the Chief Electoral Officer at a press conference held in Edmonton on February 5, 1945. The Herald was the only newspaper to break down the results by counting station.<ref name="herald1">Template:Cite news</ref>

Turnout for this election was generally low; the election came during the closing months of World War II when Germany was on its heels and starting to collapse and the tables had turned for Japanese forces as well. In addition to the heavy fighting there were also large numbers of troops in transit during the voting period. Chief Returning Officer Robert Addison estimated that almost 3,300 Alberta soldiers eligible were unable to vote because of being in transit to various fronts.

The returns themselves were counted in four places, voting conducted in Alberta was counted and released in Edmonton first, while voting conducted overseas was counted in London and sent to Edmonton by telegraph.

The highest turnout came by Army soldiers fighting in Italy and the lowest turnout was in the Mediterranean with only five service-men voting. No statistics were released on how many service men and woman were eligible to vote in total.

Voters for this election were eligible to cast a ballot if they were residents of Alberta for one full calendar year prior to enlisting in the military. The only other eligibility requirement was that they missed casting a ballot in their home electoral district during the first phase of the election.

The Government of Alberta commissioned four Chief Electoral Officers to help run the election. The election proved to be a logistical challenge as no similar election had ever been conducted on a worldwide scale. Robert Addison was in charge of overseeing the election in Edmonton and coordination operations around the world. James Thompson was Chief Returning Office in charge of overseeing the vote in the Mediterranean and the Franco-Belgian Fighting Fronts. A.P. Van Buren was in charge of Canada, United States and Alaska, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Nassau and Jamaica. L.P. Danis was the Chief Returning Officer for France, Belgium and Holland. The jobs of the Chief Electoral Officers included finding out where Albertans were stationed, setting up polling stations, and overseeing collection of ballots. In some cases polling stations were set up directly in the trenches causing delays to the election as election staff came under hostile fire.<ref name="herald0">Template:Cite news</ref>

Not much is known about the election campaigns, as there was very little information published in the press about the election. The results showed there were no clear front runners in all three races. The Navy vote saw Loftus Dudley Ward hold a lead when the first votes for Alberta were released by the Chief Electoral Officer on January 31, 1945. Ward managed to hang on to win despite getting very few overseas votes. In the Air Force vote, Joseph Roy Burton was marginally leading the field after the Alberta votes were released. On the final total Frederick C. Colborne won with a surge of overseas votes. James Harper Prowse was the biggest surprise in the Army race as he had only 34 votes before surging to win with 1,050 (but just 17 percent of the votes) by the time the final totals were released.

The result of these elections, conducted using the First past the post voting system, shows the uncertainty of that system. All three winners won with only a minority of the votes cast in their respective constituencies. Prowse won with only 17 percent of the votes cast by army voters.

Results

Canadian Army vote official results<ref name="abrep"/>
Service rank	Name	Votes	%	Home
Captain	James Harper Prowse	1,050	17.14%	Edmonton
Lieutenant Colonel	Eric Wyld Cormack	1,020	16.65%	Alix
Colonel	E.B. Wilson	514	8.39%	Edmonton
Sapper	Eric Joseph Poole	472	7.71%	Red Deer
Brigadier M.C.	Gernard Renvoize Bradbrook	384	6.27%	Calgary
Captain	James Blakley Corbet	236	3.85%	Edmonton
Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant	A. Begg	224	3.66%	Medicine Hat
Captain	William Thomas Sabine	224	3.66%	Edmonton
Craftsman	Arthur Frank Balfour	221	3.61%	Calgary
Sergeant	Clarence Alexander Mumford	203	3.31%	Calgary
Corporal	Donald Hugh McLeod	201	3.28%	Calgary
Captain	Robert Hugh Miller	187	3.05%	Edmonton
Sergeant	Douglas Sterling McLaughlin	170	2.78%	Kinuso
Sergeant	Alfred Sigman Brooks	160	2.61%	Purple Springs
Major	Wilford Addinell	157	2.56%	Edmonton
Lieutenant	James Reginald Dowdell	120	1.96%	Edmonton
Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant	David Elliot Scott	118	1.93%	Stony Plain
Major	William Graham Ledingham	110	1.80%	Calgary
Corporal	Alex Brown Johnston	106	1.73%	Picture Butte
Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant	H.A.L. Duffin	102	1.67%	Calgary
Warrant Officer Class II	Robert Duncan McIlroy	92	1.50%	Vulcan
Support	Bernard LaFleur	54	0.88%	McLennan
Total Valid Ballots		6,125	100%

Royal Canadian Air Force vote official results<ref name="abrep">Template:Cite news</ref>
Service rank	Name	Votes	%	Home
Wing Commander	Frederick C. Colborne	252	20.88%	Calgary
Warrant Officer	Joseph Roy Burton	244	20.22%	Edmonton
Sergeant	James Melville Bell	181	14.99%	Edmonton
Flight Officer	Niel Allen Bell	178	14.75%	Wayne
Sergeant	Frank Pierpoint Appleby	149	12.34%	Athabasca
Flight Officer	Claude Andrew Cambell	126	10.44%	Edmonton
Flight Officer	Harold E. Bronson	77	6.38%	Cherhill
Total Valid Ballots		1,207	100%

Royal Canadian Navy vote official results<ref name="abrep"/>
Service rank	Name	Votes	%	Home
Chief Petty Officer	Loftus Dudley Ward	293	44.87%	Calgary
Lieutenant	John P. Dewis	191	29.25%	Canmore
Leading Writer	John Francis McVean	169	25.88%	Edmonton
Total Valid Ballots		653	100%

External links

• Elections Alberta