1918 Calgary municipal election

The election would take place during the 1918 influenza pandemic which was first reported in Calgary two months before the election on October 3, 1918, by 15 soldiers returning to Canada from the First World War. By November 30, 1918, the pandemic had effected almost every Alberta community with more than 26,000 cases.{{cite news |last1=Zurowski |first1=Monica |title=In 1918, Spanish flu pulled into Calgary on a train. Here's how the city coped |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/in-1918-spanish-flu-pulled-into-calgary-on-a-train-heres-how-the-city-coped/ |accessdate=March 19, 2020 |work=Calgary Herald |date=March 13, 2020}}

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".{{cite news |title=Red Flare---Marshall Wins Yellow Flare---Costello Wins |url=https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll2/id/171913 |accessdate=March 19, 2020 |work=The Calgary Daily Herald |issue=4904 |date=December 9, 1918 |page=1}}{{cite news |title=VOTERS' LIST ERRORS |url=https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll2/id/171953 |accessdate=March 19, 2020 |work=The Calgary Daily Herald |issue=4906 |date=December 11, 1918 |page=6}}

{{Canadian election result/top|Calgary municipal|1918|List of mayors of Calgary|Mayor|percent=yes|elected=yes}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|Robert Colin Marshall|3,428|51.46%|elected=yes}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|Michael Copps Costello|3,234|48.54%|}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|6,662|-}}

{{CANelec/source|hide={{cite news |title=MARSHALL WINS OVER COSTELLO BY 194 MAJORITY |url=https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll2/id/171929 |access-date=March 19, 2020 |work=The Calgary Daily Herald |issue=4905 |date=December 10, 1918 |page=1}}}}

{{end}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|R. Jeff Lydiatt|307|4.78%|}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|T. McLaughlin|260|4.05%|}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|Wm. Groves|244|3.80%|}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|Ed Geehan|222|3.45%|}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|James Pettigrew|77|1.20%|}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|J. W. McDonald|75|1.17%|}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|8,427|-|-}}

{{CANelec/source|hide={{cite news |title=MARSHALL WINS OVER COSTELLO BY 194 MAJORITY |url=https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll2/id/171929 |access-date=March 19, 2020 |work=The Calgary Daily Herald |issue=4905 |date=December 10, 1918 |page=1}} The election was held under the Single Transferable Voting/Proportional Representation (STV/PR).
Totals above are first preference votes.
The quota necessary to be elected was 804.}}

|}

{{Canadian election result/top|Calgary municipal|1918|List of commissioners of Calgary|Commissioner|percent=yes|elected=yes}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|A. J. Samis|4,630|70.85%|elected=yes}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|A. W. E. Fawkes|1,905|29.15%|}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|6,535|-}}

{{CANelec/source|hide={{cite news |title=Vote for Mayor and Commissioner in Detail |url=https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll2/id/171943 |access-date=March 19, 2020 |work=The Calgary Daily Herald |issue=4905 |date=December 10, 1918 |page=15}}}}

{{end}}

Quota necessary for election was 1,512.

{{CANelec|AB|-|T. Humphries|X|X%|}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|D. J. Young|X|X%|}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|Robert H. Parkyn|X|X%|}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|Walter Smitten|X|X%|}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|X|-}}

|}

The quota was 544 votes.{{cite news |title=Election for Hospital Board is Determined After Lengthy Count |url=https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll2/id/171947 |accessdate=March 19, 2020 |work=The Calgary Daily Herald |issue=4906 |date=December 11, 1918 |page=1}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|J. R. Harris|248|6.65%||}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|John Harrison|169|4.53%||}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|W. C. McPhee|133|3.57%||}}

{{CANelec|AB|-|James Petrie|98|2.63%||}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|3,727|-|-}}

|}

• List of Calgary municipal elections

{{reflist|1}}

• Frederick Hunter: [http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~database/history/THE%20MAYORS%20AND%20COUNCILS%20OF%20THE%20CORPORATION%20OF%20CALGARY.htm THE MAYORS AND COUNCILS OF THE CORPORATION OF CALGARY] [https://web.archive.org/web/20200303003535/http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~database/history/THE%20MAYORS%20AND%20COUNCILS%20OF%20THE%20CORPORATION%20OF%20CALGARY.htm Archived March 3, 2020]

{{Calgary elections}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calgary Municipal Election, 1918}}

Category:Politics of Calgary

Category:Municipal elections in Calgary

Category:1918 elections in Canada

Category:1910s in Calgary