The 1918

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

municipal election was held on December 9, 1918, to a

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

and six Aldermen to sit on

Calgary City Council The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The council consists of 15 members: the chief elected official, titled the mayor, and 14 councillors. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor in October 202 ...

. 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 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

and were still in office.

Robert Colin Marshall Robert Colin Marshall (May 19, 1883 – February 20, 1962) was a politician in Alberta, Canada. Marshall served as the 20th Mayor of Calgary, Alberta from 1919 to 1921, and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Marshall was bo ...

was elected as an Alderman in 1917 for a two-year term, but resigned to run for mayor. A number of

plebiscites A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advi ...

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.

Background

The election would take place during the

1918 influenza pandemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...

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. 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".

Results

Mayor

Council

Commissioner

Public School Board

Quota necessary for election was 1,512.

Hospital Board

The quota was 544 votes.

References

Sources

*Frederick Hunter
THE MAYORS AND COUNCILS OF THE CORPORATION OF CALGARY
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calgary Municipal Election, 1918 Politics of Calgary Municipal elections in Calgary 1918 elections in Canada 1910s in Calgary