1944 Alberta general election

1944 Alberta general election

August 8, 1944 (1944-08-08)
60 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 31 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   IM Leader Ernest Manning James H. Walker Party Social Credit Independent Movement Leader since May 31, 1943 1944 Leader's seat Edmonton Warner (lost re-election) Last election 36 seats, 42.9% 19 seats, 42.5% Seats before 35 15 Seats won 51 3 Seat change 16 12 Popular vote 146,367 47,239 Percentage 50.5% 16.3% Swing 7.6% 26.2%   Third party Fourth party   V&AF Leader Elmer E. Roper William J. Williams Party Co-operative Commonwealth Veterans' and Active Force Leader since 1942 1944 Leader's seat Edmonton Edmonton Last election 0 seats, 11.1% pre-creation Seats before 1 0 Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 70,307 3,532 Percentage 24.2% 1.2% Swing 13.1% —
Premier before election Ernest Manning Social Credit Premier after election Ernest Manning Social Credit

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, Armed Forces voters voted for separate representation - by electing an Army, an Air Force and a Navy representative.

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.

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.

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.

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. The 1944 election also marked the first time that Japanese Canadians were eligible to vote in a provincial election. There were two thousand Japanese who had previously been evacuated from British Columbia to Alberta under war time provisions who were qualified to vote under the eligibility rules.

After the writ was dropped the single biggest issue of the campaign turned out to be a referendum on the future of the Cooperative Commonwealth. The Independents and Social Credit were each asking their supporters to vote "1" and "2" for their respective parties to ensure the Commonwealth is defeated.

Social Credit

The Social Credit governmenthad 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.

Independents

The Independents, led into the election by James Walker, had been organized as a coalition of Conservatives, Liberals and United Farmers who grouped together to defeat the Social Credit government in 1937. The coalition which was organized under the parent group, the Independent Citizen's Association. Despite being an organized party all candidates ran and those who were elected did so as Independents. The coalition started falling apart when the Alberta Liberal Party left just before the 4th Legislative Session opened in February 1944.

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. 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.

Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)

The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation had enjoyed tremendous growth over the past 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. After the merger the party won an Edmonton by-election on September 22, 1942 to elect their leader Elmer Roper to the Assembly. 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.

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. This was the first provincial election where the CCF fielded a full slate of candidates. They were the only other party in 1944 to do so other than Social Credit. (The need for fusion candidates was not great as transferable votes used at that time in all districts in Alberta avoided the harmful effects of vote splitting.)

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. They did run 30 candidates.

In some electoral districts where LPP candidates did not run, the LPP and the CCF ran fusion candidates. 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

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.

Johanson's Farmer-Labor banner was the least successful of the four single candidate slates that operated in the general election. Johanson finished last in his district and in the provincial standings, winning just 0.13% of the total popular 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. Improvements for local transportation infrastructure rounded out the Farmer-Labor platform.

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 vote.

Opposition MLAs were contained in Calgary and Edmonton, where STV ensured proportional results, and Social Credit swept the rural districts. Many rural districts were decided in SC's favour on the First Counts, But in others, where no candidate took a majority of the votes in the First Count, the Alternative Voting system used at the time necessitating vote transfer(s). Even where votes were transferred, the final winner in each single-member district was the same as would have won under First past the post.

The anti-SC coalition Independents had failed to 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 from electing members.

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, running relatively high due to wartime anti-fascist sentiment.

The opposition parties conceded defeat just twenty six minutes after the polls closed.

Key races

Edmonton

The Edmonton electoral district elected five members by single transferable vote. There were twenty candidates running 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, 1 (anti-SC) Independent, 1 CCF and Williams of the Veterans and Active Force group. The three opposition MLAS elected in Edmonton joined with the 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.

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. 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.

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.

Results

Elections to the 10th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1944)

Party		Leader	Candidates	First-preference votes						Seats
				Votes	±	% Fpv	Change (pp)			1940	1944	±
	Canadian Armed Forces representatives
	█ Canadian Army		22	6,125
	█ Royal Canadian Air Force		7	1,207
	█ Royal Canadian Navy		3	653
	Military vote		32	7,985	7,985	2.75	2.75		2.75	–	3 / 60	3
	Social Credit	Ernest C. Manning	57	146,367	13,860	50.46	7.56		7.56	36	51 / 60	15
	Independent Movement	James H. Walker	36	47,239	83,364	16.28	-26.00			19	3 / 60	16
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Elmer Roper	57	70,307	35,991	24.24	13.13		13.13	–	2 / 60	2
	Veteran's & Active Force	William Williams	1	3,532	3,532	1.22	1.22		1.22	–	1 / 60	1
	Labor–Progressive	James A. MacPherson	30	12,003	10,936	4.14	3.79		3.79	–	0 / 60	–
	Liberal		Did not campaign				-0.89			1	0 / 60	1
	Labour		Did not campaign				-1.05			1	0 / 60	1
	Labor United		1	1,788	1,788	0.62
	Single Tax		1	480	480	0.16
	Farmer–Labour		1	390	390	0.13
Total			216	290,091		100.00%
Rejected ballots				8,082	2,533
Turnout				298,173	21,306	70.7%	4.1
Registered voters				421,501	5,834

MLAs elected

  Acadia-Coronation: Clarence Gerhart

  Alexandra: Selmer Berg

  Athabasca: Gordon Lee

  Banff-Cochrane: Arthur Wray

  Beaver River: Lucien Maynard

  Bow Valley-Empress: Wilson Cain

  Bruce: James L. McPherson

  Calgary: Fred Anderson

  Calgary: Andrew Davison

  Calgary: Aylmer Liesemer

  Calgary: Howard MacDonald

  Calgary: Rose Wilkinson

  Camrose: Chester Sayers

  Cardston: Nathan Eldon Tanner

  Clover Bar: Floyd Baker

  Cypress: Edith Thurston

  Didsbury: Howard Hammell

  Drumheller: Gordon Taylor

  Edmonton: Norman James

  Edmonton: Ernest Manning

  Edmonton: John P. Page

  Edmonton: Elmer Roper

  Edmonton: William Williams (VAF)

  Edson: Norman Willmore

  Gleichen: George E. Bell

  Grande Prairie: Ira McLaughlin

  Grouard: William Fallow

  Hand Hills: Wallace Warren Cross

  Lac Ste. Anne: Albert Bourcier

  Lacombe: Duncan MacMillan

  Leduc: Ronald Ansley

  Lethbridge: John Landeryou

  Little Bow: Peter Dawson

  Macleod: James Hartley

  Medicine Hat: John Lyle Robinson

  Okotoks-High River: Ivan Casey

  Olds: Norman E. Cook

  Peace River: William Gilliland

  Pembina: Robin Jorgenson

  Pincher Creek-Crowsnest: Ernest Duke

  Ponoka: Ora B. Moore

  Red Deer: David Ure

  Redwater: James Popil

  Rocky Mountain House: Alfred Hooke

  St. Albert: Charles Holder

  St. Paul: Joseph Beaudry

  Sedgewick: Albert Fee

  Spirit River: Henry DeBolt

  Stettler: William S. Mackie

  Stony Plain: Cornelia Wood

  Taber: Roy S. Lee

  Vegreville: Michael Ponich

  Vermilion: William Cornish

  Wainwright: William Masson

  Warner: Solon Low

  Wetaskiwin: John Wingblade

  Willingdon: William Tomyn

Servicemember MLAs

  Army: James Harper Prowse

  Air Force: Frederick C. Colborne

  Navy: Loftus Dudley Ward

Synopsis of results

Results by riding – 1944 Alberta general election (all except Calgary, Edmonton and servicemember MLAs)

Riding	First-preference votes						Turnout	Final counts				Winning party
Name	SC	CCF	IndM	LPP	Oth	Total		SC	CCF	IndM	Lab	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

  = Open seat

  = turnout is above provincial average

  = Candidate was in previous Legislature

  = Incumbent had switched allegiance

  = Previously incumbent in another riding

  = Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

  = Incumbency arose from by-election gain

  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

  = Multiple candidates

Multi-member districts

District	Seats won (in order declared)
Calgary
Edmonton				VAF

	Social Credit
	Independent Movement
VAF	Veteran's & Active Force
	CCF

  = Candidate was in previous Legislature

  = First-time MLA

(Liesemer (CCF) was 5th candidate to be elected in Calgary, receiving the least number of votes of the successful candidates.)

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	7.81	7.81
Edmonton	37,834	35,087	2,747	7.26	7.26
Banff-Cochrane	4,072	3,562	800	12.52	12.52
Lethbridge	6,297	5,080	1,217	19.33	19.33
Okotoks-High River	6,572	5,772	130	19.65	19.65
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	4,859	4,108	751	15.46	15.46
St. Albert	4,237	3,848	389	9.18	9.18
St. Paul	4,125	3,537	588	14.25	14.25
Vegreville	3,833	3,416	417	10.88	10.88
Willingdon	3,998	3,292	706	17.66	17.66

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.

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.

Calgary

All parties other than the Independent Movement fielded full slates.

Party		Candidates			MLAs elected
		1944	1940	±	1944	1940	±
	Independent Movement	4	6	2	2	3	3
	Social Credit	5	4	1	2	2
	Co-operative Commonwealth	5	2	3	1	–	1
	Independent Labour	–	1	1	–	–	–
	Independent	–	1	1	–	–	–
	Labor–Progressive	5	–	5	–	–	–
Total		19	14	5	5	5

Calgary (1944 Alberta general election) (five members elected, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
	Independent Movement	Andrew Davison	19.73%	7,754
	Social Credit	Fred Anderson	16.93%	6,695
	Social Credit	Rose Wilkinson	12.83%	5,042	5,071	5,115	5,121	5,130	5,136	5,146	5,162	5,511	5,605	5,970	6,028	6,069	6,107	8,338
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alymer Liesemer	9.06%	3,560	3,572	3,572	3,574	3,579	3,580	3,597	3,654	3,662	3,754	3,769	4,556	4,567	5,850	5,926	5,926	6,077
	Independent Movement	Howard MacDonald	6.02%	2,365	2,638	2,638	2,639	2,639	2,643	2,647	2,649	2,650	2,665	2,676	2,687	3,682	3,696	3,724	3,796	6,897
	Independent Movement	John J. Bowlen	5.58%	2,192	2,597	2,597	2,599	2,605	2,609	2,611	2,613	2,633	2,649	2,655	2,658	3,439	3,445	3,464	3,541
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Robert Alderman	5.31%	2,088	2,096	2,096	2,098	2,104	2,106	2,107	2,355	2,364	2,405	2,426	2,873	2,892	3,456	3,494	3,556	3,608
	Co-operative Commonwealth	C.W.J. Helmer	4.22%	1,659	1,663	1,663	1,663	1,663	1,666	1,678	1,728	1,732	1,779	1,815	2,063	2,070
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Ken Tory	3.71%	1,458	1,460	1,460	1,466	1,469	1,473	1,477	1,589	1,592	1,615	1,625
	Independent Movement	R.C. Carlile	3.65%	1,433	1,865	1,865	1,867	1,868	1,871	1,878	1,878	1,887	1,899	1,906	1,909
	Social Credit	Art Larsen	3.44%	1,351	1,358	1,368	1,369	1,370	1,372	1,375	1,379	1,545	1,574	2,555	2,564	2,579	2,632
	Social Credit	Edward Geehan	2.96%	1,162	1,168	1,183	1,184	1,184	1,190	1,210	1,211	1,494	1,526
	Social Credit	C.M. Baker	2.12%	834	840	868	870	873	876	881	886
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Herbert Wiertz	1.28%	504	504	504	505	506	510	512
	Labor–Progressive	Pat Lenihan	1.25%	491	493	493	505	547	640	1,012	1,014	1,016
	Labor–Progressive	Lionel Edwards	0.77%	304	309	309	317	339	487
	Labor–Progressive	Mike Daniels	0.66%	258	261	261	262	308
	Labor–Progressive	Gordon Wray	0.33%	128	128	128	148
	Labor–Progressive	Audrey Staples	0.18%	71	71	71
Exhausted ballots			—	—	8	14	18	21	46	74	87	119	734	807	867	907	1,019	1,259	2,834	3,071
Electorate: 62,807   Valid: 39,309   Spoilt: 1,517   Quota: 6,552   Turnout: 40,826 (65.0%)

Calgary (1944 Alberta general election)
(analysis of transferred votes, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)

Party		Candidate	Maximum round	Maximum votes	Share in maximum round	Maximum votes First round votesTransfer votes
	Independent Movement	Andrew Davison	1	7,754	19.73%	​​
	Social Credit	Fred Anderson	1	6,655	16.93%	​​
	Social Credit	Rose Wilkinson	15	8,338	21.69%	​​
	CCF	Alymer Liesemer	17	6,077	15.81%	​​
	Independent Movement	Howard MacDonald	17	6,897	17.94%	​​
	Independent Movement	John J. Bowlen	16	3,541	9.21%	​​
	CCF	Robert Alderman	17	3,608	9.39%	​​
	CCF	C.W.J. Helmer	13	2,070	5.38%	​​
	CCF	Ken Tory	11	1,625	4.22%	​​
	Independent Movement	R.C. Carlile	12	1,909	4.97%	​​
	Social Credit	Art Larsen	14	2,632	6.85%	​​
	Social Credit	Edward Geehan	10	1,526	3.96%	​​
	Social Credit	C.M. Baker	8	886	2.26%	​​
	CCF	Herbert Wiertz	7	512	1.30%	​​
	LPP	Pat Lenihan	9	1,016	2.59%	​​
	LPP	Lionel Edwards	6	487	3.49%	​​
	LPP	Mike Daniels	5	308	0.78%	​​
	LPP	Gordon Wray	4	148	0.38%	​​
	LPP	Audrey Staples	3	71	0.18%	​​
Exhausted votes				3,071	7.81%	​​

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	±
	Social Credit	5	5		2	2
	Co-operative Commonwealth	5	3	2	1	–	1
	Independent Movement	4	7	3	1	3	2
	Veteran's & Active Force	1	–	1	1	–	1
	Labor–Progressive	5	1	4	–	–	–
	Independent Progressive	–	2	2	–	–	–
	Independent	–	1	1	–	–	–
Total		20	19	1	5	5

Edmonton (1944 Alberta general election) (five members elected, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	Social Credit	Ernest Manning	37.72%	14,271
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Elmer Roper	13.88%	5,253	5,429	5,441	5,457	5,471	5,557	5,566	5,595	5,773	6,345
	Independent Movement	John Percy Page	12.17%	4,603	4,998	5,032	5,039	5,261	5,267	5,602	5,611	5,621	5,647	5,705	5,794	5,828	7,171
	Veterans' and Active Force	William Williams	9.34%	3,532	3,996	4,012	4,030	4,051	4,060	4,077	4,088	4,120	4,142	4,298	4,508	4,554	4,805	5,366	5,535
	Independent Movement	Johnnie Caine	3.70%	1,400	1,545	1,548	1,548	1,646	1,653	1,826	1,837	1,860	1,869	1,891	1,954	1,977
	Social Credit	Henry Carrigan	3.14%	1,188	2,443	2,449	2,451	2,458	2,462	2,469	2,477	2,494	2,500	2,515	2,687	3,090	3,174	3,307
	Social Credit	Orvis A. Kennedy	2.32%	876	3,495	3,501	3,512	3,519	3,523	3,527	3,545	3,556	3,577	3,627	3,684	4,116	4,175	4,264	5,171
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Clifford Lee	2.26%	854	892	896	901	903	957	962	973	1,074
	Social Credit	Norman B. James	2.06%	781	2,491	2,504	2,510	2,514	2,515	2,519	2,547	2,555	2,563	2,587	2,613	3,376	3,421	3,476	5,397
	Social Credit	John Gillies	2.00%	755	1,674	1,676	1,681	1,684	1,690	1,694	1,703	1,705	1,714	1,730	1,806
	Labor–Progressive	James A. MacPherson	1.96%	742	774	804	978	980	983	984	1,351	1,357	1,386
	Co-operative Commonwealth	James Enright	1.72%	649	684	688	689	690	989	999	1,006	1,233	1,531	1,624
	Co-operative Commonwealth	M. E. Butterworth	1.45%	549	578	578	581	584	635	638	642
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Joseph Dowler	1.44%	545	557	560	562	565
	Labor–Progressive	William Halina	1.31%	496	512	547	585	586	590	594
	Independent Movement	Cecil Chapman	1.26%	476	509	510	510	580	584
	Independent Movement	Clarence Richards	1.12%	422	458	463	463
	Labor–Progressive	Jan Lakeman	0.66%	251	270	302
	Labor–Progressive	Alex Herd	0.31%	119	125
	Labor–Progressive	G.V. Murdoch	0.19%	72	98
Exhausted ballots			—	—	0	17	31	36	63	71	153	180	254	1,206	2,137	2,242	2,437	2,437	2,747
Electorate: 65,651   Valid: 37,834   Spoilt: 2,213   Quota: 6,306   Turnout: 40,047 (61.0%)

Edmonton (1944 Alberta general election)
(analysis of transferred votes, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)

Party		Candidate	Maximum round	Maximum votes	Share in maximum round	Maximum votes First round votesTransfer votes
	Social Credit	Ernest Manning	1	14,271	37.72%	​​
	CCF	Elmer Roper	10	6,345	16.88%	​​
	Independent Movement	John Percy Page	14	7,171	20.26%	​​
	Veterans' and Active Force	William Williams	16	5,535	15.78%	​​
	Independent Movement	Johnnie Caine	13	1,977	5.55%	​​
	Social Credit	Henry Carrigan	15	3,307	9.34%	​​
	Social Credit	Orvis A. Kennedy	16	5,171	14.74%	​​
	CCF	Clifford Lee	9	1,074	2.85%	​​
	Social Credit	Norman B. James	16	5,397	15.38%	​​
	Social Credit	John Gillies	12	1,806	5.06%	​​
	LPP	James A. MacPherson	10	1,386	3.69%	​​
	CCF	James Enright	11	1,624	4.43%	​​
	CCF	M. E. Butterworth	8	642	1.70%	​​
	CCF	Joseph Dowler	5	565	1.49%	​​
	LPP	William Halina	7	594	1.57%	​​
	Independent Movement	Cecil Chapman	6	584	1.55%	​​
	Independent Movement	Clarence Richards	4	463	1.22%	​​
	LPP	Jan Lakeman	3	302	0.80%	​​
	LPP	Alex Herd	2	125	0.33%	​​
	LPP	G.V. Murdoch	2	98	0.26%	​​
Exhausted votes				2,747	7.26%	​​

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:

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:

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.

District	Party				Total
	SC	CCF	IndM	LPP
Calgary	331	244	192	43	810

Approximately 4,000 military votes were received in Edmonton, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 after 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. James Harper Prowse won with only 17 percent of the votes cast by army voters.

Results

Canadian Army vote official results
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
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
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