1948 Alberta general election

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox election The 1948 Alberta general election was held on August 17, 1948, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Ernest C. Manning led the Social Credit to a fourth term in government, increasing its share of the popular vote further above the 50% mark it had set in the 1944 election. It won the same number of seats — 51 of the 57 seats in the legislature — that it had won in the previous election.

The remaining seats were won by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the Liberal Party and independents.

This provincial election, like the previous five, 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.

Along with this election, voters got to also vote in a province wide plebiscite. The ballot asked voters about their preferred method to distribute electricity in province.

Results

Elections to the 11th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1948)

Party		Leader	Candidates	First-preference votes						Seats
				Votes	±	% Template:Abbr	Change (pp)			1944	1948	±	Ernest C. Manning	57	164,003	17,636Template:Increase	55.63	Template:Bartable	51	Template:Composition bar	Template:No change	Elmer Roper	51	56,387	13,920Template:Decrease	19.13	Template:Bartable	2	Template:Composition bar	Template:No change	James H. Prowse	49	52,655	52,655Template:Increase	17.86	Template:Bartable	–	Template:Composition bar	2Template:Increase	Independent Citizen's Association<ref group=a>Formerly known as the Independent Movement or the Citizens' Slate</ref>	John P. Page	9	12,983	34,256Template:Decrease	4.40	Template:Bartable	3	Template:Composition bar	2Template:Decrease		3	2,958	2,958Template:Increase	1.00	Template:Bartable	–	Template:Composition bar	1Template:Increase		Did not campaign				Template:Bartable	1	Template:Composition bar	1Template:Decrease		1	3,579	3,579Template:Increase	1.21	Template:Bartable	Ben Swankey	2	1,372	10,631Template:Decrease	0.47	Template:Bartable	United Labour		1	856	932Template:Decrease	0.30	Template:Bartable
Total			173	294,793		100.00%
Rejected ballots				17,707	9,625Template:Increase
Turnout				312,500	14,327Template:Increase	63.5%	7.2Template:Decrease
Registered voters				489,311	67,810Template:Increase

Electrification plebiscite

The fourth plebiscite conducted province-wide in Alberta's history, the 1948 electrification referendum was not a traditional yes–no question but presented two options on electricity generation and transmission. It asked the voter to indicate whether the province should create "a publicly-owned utility administered by the Alberta Government Power Commission"<ref>A Report on Alberta Elections, p. 185</ref> or leave the electricity industry in the hands of companies already in the business, a mixture of municipal operations and private companies. The driving force behind the referendum was whether to provide rural electrification through provincial government ownership or leave it in the hands of private corporations, who had done very little up to that time and did not have the financial resources to perform the task.<ref>The People's Weekly, August 14, Sept. 4, 1948</ref> The referendum result was a slight majority in favour of retention of the existing companies. Despite that, the government sponsored the creation of many Rural Electrification Associations, some of which still are in operation today.<ref>"Alberta Power Market" website, accessed May 16, 2020</ref><ref>https://afrea.ab.ca/</ref>

The result shows how evenly divided the province was on the issue, with a majority of only 151 votes in favour of leaving the old system in place. In fact, voters in Edmonton were effectively split and the rural areas were in favour of provincial control, but an even larger majority in Calgary voted to retain the old system.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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?

Results by districtTemplate:Snd1948 Alberta electricity plebiscite<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

District	In favour of
	Status quo		Public utility
Acadia-Coronation	1,578	38.81%	2,487	61.19%
Alexandra	1,350	37.00%	2,298	63.00%
Athabasca	1,262	29.08%	3,077	70.92%
Banff-Cochrane	2,624	64.31%	1,456	35.69%
Beaver River	2,770	65.85%	1,436	34.15%
Bow Valley-Empress	1,737	47.02%	1,957	52.98%
Bruce	1,423	38.01%	2,320	61.99%
Calgary	26,325	69.63%	11,478	30.37%
Camrose	2,164	42.79%	2,893	57.21%
Cardston	1,268	46.00%	1,488	54.00%
Clover Bar	1,722	38.26%	2,778	61.74%
Cypress	1,279	47.49%	1,414	52.51%
Didsbury	2,360	60.00%	1,573	40.00%
Drumheller	1,862	47.58%	2,051	52.42%
Edmonton	22,351	50.99%	21,478	49.01%
Edson	1,623	33.86%	3,170	66.14%
Gleichen	2,007	56.04%	1,574	43.96%
Grande Prairie	2,293	49.55%	2,334	50.45%
Grouard	1,673	32.21%	3,520	67.79%
Hand Hills	1,759	44.95%	2,154	55.05%
Lac Ste. Anne	1,242	28.86%	3,061	71.14%
Lacombe	1,994	43.32%	2,608	56.68%
Leduc	1,899	44.02%	2,414	55.98%
Lethbridge	4,237	64.90%	2,291	35.10%
Little Bow	1,653	52.14%	1,517	47.86%
Macleod	2,179	53.74%	1,875	46.26%
Medicine Hat	5,186	81.03%	1,214	18.97%
Okotoks-High River	3,321	61.16%	2,109	38.84%
Olds	2,398	58.60%	1,694	41.40%
Peace River	1,914	42.90%	2,547	57.10%
Pembina	1,710	34.29%	3,276	65.71%
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	1,838	44.59%	2,284	55.41%
Ponoka	1,622	41.69%	2,268	58.31%
Red Deer	2,963	52.79%	2,649	47.21%
Redwater	804	22.66%	2,743	77.31%
Rocky Mountain House	2,210	45.63%	2,633	54.37%
St. Albert	1,897	55.16%	2,333	44.84%
St. Paul	1,945	41.50%	2,741	58.50%
Sedgewick	1,962	48.17%	2,111	51.83%
Spirit River	1,147	31.91%	2,447	68.09%
Stettler	2,190	53.91%	1,872	46.09%
Stony Plain	1,360	35.88%	2,430	64.12%
Taber	1,485	46.46%	1,711	53.54%
Vegreville	1,225	32.08%	2,593	67.92%
Vermilion	1,732	43.12%	2,284	56.88%
Wainwright	1,813	41.00%	2,608	59.00%
Warner	1,265	51.33%	1,199	48.67%
Wetaskiwin	2,301	46.23%	2,676	53.77%
Willingdon	1,069	28.24%	2,716	71.76%
Totals	139,991	50.03%	139,840	49.47%

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

Results by ridingTemplate:Snd1948 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	Template:Abbr	1944		1948
Acadia-Coronation	2,332	641	1,254	–	–	4,227	78.5%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Alexandra	2,034	1,190	651	–	–	3,875	57.7%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Athabasca	2,374	1,226	958	–	–	4,558	59.0%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Banff-Cochrane	1,084	–	–	1,246	1,658	3,988	58.2%	–	–	–	1,465	1,964		SC		I-SC
Beaver River	1,992	1,282	1,579	–	–	4,853	68.9%	2,117	–	1,698	–	–		SC		SC
Bow Valley-Empress	2,178	683	1,063	–	–	3,924	68.9%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Bruce	2,248	1,080	615	–	–	3,943	64.0%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Camrose	3,041	1,315	1,003	–	–	5,359	71.2%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Cardston	1,981	–	944	–	–	2,925	60.00%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Clover Bar	2,801	1,035	761	–	–	4,597	70.1%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Cypress	1,723	410	844	–	–	2,977	69.2%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Didsbury	2,647	417	–	935	–	3,999	64.5%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Drumheller	2,982	–	271	–	856	4,109	76.4%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Edson	2,543	1,715	770	–	–	5,028	65.4%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Gleichen	2,354	–	–	1,303	–	3,657	65.4%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Grande Prairie	2,952	1,019	768	–	–	4,739	68.4%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Grouard	2,493	1,249	1,850	–	–	5,592	75.7%	2,717	–	1,917	–	–		SC		SC
Hand Hills	2,773	–	1,607	–	–	4,380	78.9%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Lac Ste. Anne	1,899	1,558	1,023	–	39	4,519	69.7%	2,401	1,742	–	–	–		SC		SC
Lacombe	3,053	1,109	643	–	–	4,805	70.8%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Leduc	2,548	1,071	772	–	–	4,391	61.2%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Lethbridge	3,829	1,441	1,768	–	–	7,038	65.0%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Little Bow	1,865	435	–	1,086	–	3,386	75.1%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Macleod	2,852	756	612	–	–	4,220	67.8%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Medicine Hat	3,835	996	1,043	–	–	5,874	64.0%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Okotoks-High River	3,876	490	1,219	–	–	5,585	62.5%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Olds	3,260	424	690	–	–	4,374	66.8%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Peace River	3,191	1,087	829	–	–	5,107	61.3%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Pembina	3,165	1,462	684	–	–	5,311	72.8%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	2,210	815	998	–	856	4,879	72.0%	2,292	–	1,045	–	–		SC		SC
Ponoka	2,679	1,023	519	–	–	4,221	69.6%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Red Deer	4,771	1,082	–	–	–	5,853	66.0%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Redwater	1,807	1,528	441	–	–	3,776	66.9%	1,912	1,572	–	–	–		SC		SC
Rocky Mountain House	3,582	1,365	–	–	–	4,947	63.4%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
St. Albert	2,702	1,047	774	–	–	4,523	67.9%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
St. Paul	2,197	1,510	1,416	–	–	5,123	73.3%	2,980	1,584	–	–	–		SC		SC
Sedgewick	2,867	567	838	–	–	4,272	71.6%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Spirit River	2,155	1,194	631	–	–	3,980	68.9%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Stettler	3,249	953	–	–	–	4,201	67.8%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Stony Plain	2,188	1,037	872	–	–	4,097	68.9%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Taber	2,559	501	463	–	–	3,523	62.6%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Vegreville	2,101	1,276	763	–	–	4,140	70.1%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Vermilion	1,999	1,158	1,179	–	–	4,336	71.9%	2,196	–	1,323	–	–		SC		SC
Wainwright	2,877	887	833	–	–	4,597	70.4%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Warner	1,691	–	598	–	–	2,289	53.6%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Wetaskiwin	2,827	1,232	1,414	–	–	5,473	75.8%	Elected on 1st count						SC		SC
Willingdon	2,111	1,861	–	–	–	3,972	72.6%	Elected on 1st count						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:Canadian party colour |

width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	Social Credit
Template:Canadian party colour |	CCF
Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal
Template:Canadian party colour |	Independent Citizen's Association

Template:Color box = Candidate was in previous Legislature

Template:Color box = First-time MLA

STV analysis

Exhausted votes

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

Exhausted votes (1948)

District	Counts		Exhausted
	1st preference	Final	Votes	% of 1st pref
Calgary	39,101	36,865	2236	Template:Bartable
Edmonton	46,150	44,256	1,894	Template:Bartable
Banff-Cochrane	3,988	3,429	559	Template:Bartable
Beaver River	4,853	3,815	1,038	Template:Bartable
Grouard	5,592	4,634	958	Template:Bartable
Lac Ste. Anne	4,519	4,143	376	Template:Bartable
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	4,879	3,337	1,542	Template:Bartable
Redwater	3,776	3,484	292	Template:Bartable
St. Paul	5,123	4,564	559	Template:Bartable
Vermilion	4,336	3,519	817	Template:Bartable

Calgary

All parties other than the Independent Movement fielded full slates.

Party		Candidates			MLAs elected
		1944	1940	±	1944	1940	±	5	5	Template:No change	2	2	Template:No change	5	5	Template:No change	1	1	Template:No change	5	–	5Template:Increase	1	–	1Template:Increase	Independent Citizen's Association	3	4	1Template:Decrease	1	2	1Template:Decrease	1	5	4Template:Decrease	–	–	–	1	–	1Template:Increase	–	–	–	2	–	2Template:Increase	–	–	–
Total		22	19	3Template:Increase	5	5	Template:No change

Template:STV Election box end2 (In the original official report, exhausted votes were not recorded as a separate total but instead resided with candidate that last had the votes. Here exhausted votes reside with winning candidates but are separated out if they arise from the elimination of a candidate.)<ref>General Statement by Returning Officer, Calgary, August 17, 1948</ref>

Template:Election box ranked choice exhausted no party no change with bar

Edmonton

In 1940 and 1944, three parties had full slates. The Independent Movement presented four candidates, and Williams campaigned under his own banner, that of the Veteran's & Active Force.

Party		Candidates			MLAs elected
		1944	1940	±	1944	1940	±	5	5	Template:No change	3	2	1Template:Increase	5	5	Template:No change	1	1	Template:No change	5	–	5Template:Increase	1	–	1Template:Increase	Independent Citizen's Association	1	4	3Template:Decrease	–	1	1Template:Decrease	–	1	1Template:Decrease	–	1	1Template:Decrease	–	5	5Template:Decrease	–	–	–
Total		16	20	4Template:Decrease	5	5	Template:No change

Template:STV Election box end2 (Exhausted votes reside with winning candidates but are separated out if they arise from the elimination of a candidate. On the eleventh count Roper's surplus votes were transferred where possible, but 8684 of his votes did not bear usable back-up preferences so they were retained by Roper.)<ref>General Statement by Returning Officer Edmonton August 17, 1948</ref>

See also

• 1957 Liquor Plebiscite
• 1967 Daylight Saving Plebiscite
• 1971 Daylight Saving Plebiscite
• List of Alberta political parties