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)PartyLeaderCandidatesFirst-preference votesSeats Votes ± % Change (pp) 1944 1948 ±Ernest C. Manning57 164,003 17,636 55.63 51Elmer Roper51 56,387 13,920 19.13 2James H. Prowse49 52,655 52,655 17.86 –2Independent Citizen's AssociationFormerly known as the Independent Movement or the Citizens' SlateJohn P. Page9 12,983 34,256 4.40 323 2,958 2,958 1.00 –1Did not campaign 111 3,579 3,579 1.21 Ben Swankey2 1,372 10,631 0.47 United Labour 1 856 932 0.30 Total 173294,793 100.00% Rejected ballots 17,707 9,625 Turnout 312,500 14,327 63.5% 7.2 Registered voters 489,311 67,810

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"A Report on Alberta Elections, p. 185 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.The People's Weekly, August 14, Sept. 4, 1948 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."Alberta Power Market" website, accessed May 16, 2020

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.

Option AOption BAre 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 district1948 Alberta electricity plebiscite District In favour of Status quo Public utility Acadia-Coronation1,578 38.81% 2,487 61.19% Alexandra1,350 37.00% 2,298 63.00% Athabasca1,262 29.08% 3,077 70.92% Banff-Cochrane2,624 64.31% 1,456 35.69% Beaver River2,770 65.85% 1,436 34.15%Bow Valley-Empress1,737 47.02% 1,957 52.98% Bruce1,423 38.01% 2,320 61.99% Calgary26,325 69.63% 11,478 30.37% Camrose2,164 42.79% 2,893 57.21% Cardston1,268 46.00% 1,488 54.00% Clover Bar1,722 38.26% 2,778 61.74% Cypress1,279 47.49% 1,414 52.51% Didsbury2,360 60.00% 1,573 40.00% Drumheller1,862 47.58% 2,051 52.42% Edmonton22,351 50.99% 21,478 49.01% Edson1,623 33.86% 3,170 66.14% Gleichen2,007 56.04% 1,574 43.96% Grande Prairie2,293 49.55% 2,334 50.45% Grouard1,673 32.21% 3,520 67.79% Hand Hills1,759 44.95% 2,154 55.05% Lac Ste. Anne1,242 28.86% 3,061 71.14% Lacombe1,994 43.32% 2,608 56.68% Leduc1,899 44.02% 2,414 55.98% Lethbridge4,237 64.90% 2,291 35.10% Little Bow1,653 52.14% 1,517 47.86% Macleod2,179 53.74% 1,875 46.26% Medicine Hat5,186 81.03% 1,214 18.97% Okotoks-High River3,321 61.16% 2,109 38.84% Olds2,398 58.60% 1,694 41.40% Peace River1,914 42.90% 2,547 57.10% Pembina1,710 34.29% 3,276 65.71% Pincher Creek-Crowsnest1,838 44.59% 2,284 55.41% Ponoka1,622 41.69% 2,268 58.31% Red Deer2,963 52.79% 2,649 47.21% Redwater804 22.66% 2,743 77.31% Rocky Mountain House2,210 45.63% 2,633 54.37% St. Albert1,897 55.16% 2,333 44.84% St. Paul1,945 41.50% 2,741 58.50% Sedgewick1,962 48.17% 2,111 51.83% Spirit River1,147 31.91% 2,447 68.09% Stettler2,190 53.91% 1,872 46.09% Stony Plain1,360 35.88% 2,430 64.12% Taber1,485 46.46% 1,711 53.54% Vegreville1,225 32.08% 2,593 67.92% Vermilion1,732 43.12% 2,284 56.88% Wainwright1,813 41.00% 2,608 59.00% Warner1,265 51.33% 1,199 48.67% Wetaskiwin2,301 46.23% 2,676 53.77% Willingdon1,069 28.24% 2,716 71.76% Totals139,991 50.03% 139,840 49.47%

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results + Results by riding1948 Alberta general election (all except Calgary, Edmonton and servicemember MLAs) Riding First-preference votes Turnoutincluding spoilt ballots Final counts Winning partyName SC CCF Total SC CCF 1944 1948   Acadia-Coronation2,332 641 1,254 – – 4,22778.5%Elected on 1st count SC SC Alexandra2,034 1,190 651 – – 3,875 57.7%Elected on 1st count SC SC Athabasca2,374 1,226 958 – – 4,558 59.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Banff-Cochrane1,084 – – 1,246 1,658 3,988 58.2% – – – 1,465 1,964 SC I-SC Beaver River1,992 1,282 1,579 – – 4,85368.9% 2,117 – 1,698 – – SC SCBow Valley-Empress2,178 683 1,063 – – 3,92468.9%Elected on 1st count SC SC Bruce2,248 1,080 615 – – 3,94364.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Camrose3,041 1,315 1,003 – – 5,35971.2%Elected on 1st count SC SC Cardston1,981 – 944 – – 2,925 60.00%Elected on 1st count SC SC Clover Bar2,801 1,035 761 – – 4,59770.1%Elected on 1st count SC SC Cypress1,723 410 844 – – 2,97769.2%Elected on 1st count SC SC Didsbury2,647 417 – 935 – 3,99964.5%Elected on 1st count SC SC Drumheller2,982 – 271 – 856 4,10976.4%Elected on 1st count SC SC Edson2,543 1,715 770 – – 5,02865.4%Elected on 1st count SC SC Gleichen2,354 – – 1,303 – 3,65765.4%Elected on 1st count SC SC Grande Prairie2,952 1,019 768 – – 4,73968.4%Elected on 1st count SC SC Grouard2,493 1,249 1,850 – – 5,59275.7% 2,717 – 1,917 – – SC SC Hand Hills2,773 – 1,607 – – 4,38078.9%Elected on 1st count SC SC Lac Ste. Anne1,899 1,558 1,023 – 39 4,51969.7% 2,401 1,742 – – – SC SC Lacombe3,053 1,109 643 – – 4,80570.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Leduc2,548 1,071 772 – – 4,391 61.2%Elected on 1st count SC SC Lethbridge3,829 1,441 1,768 – – 7,03865.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Little Bow1,865 435 – 1,086 – 3,38675.1%Elected on 1st count SC SC Macleod2,852 756 612 – – 4,22067.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Medicine Hat3,835 996 1,043 – – 5,87464.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Okotoks-High River3,876 490 1,219 – – 5,585 62.5%Elected on 1st count SC SC Olds3,260 424 690 – – 4,37466.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Peace River3,191 1,087 829 – – 5,107 61.3%Elected on 1st count SC SC Pembina3,165 1,462 684 – – 5,31172.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Pincher Creek-Crowsnest2,210 815 998 – 856 4,87972.0% 2,292 – 1,045 – – SC SC Ponoka2,679 1,023 519 – – 4,22169.6%Elected on 1st count SC SC Red Deer4,771 1,082 – – – 5,85366.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Redwater1,807 1,528 441 – – 3,77666.9% 1,912 1,572 – – – SC SC Rocky Mountain House3,582 1,365 – – – 4,947 63.4%Elected on 1st count SC SC St. Albert2,702 1,047 774 – – 4,52367.9%Elected on 1st count SC SC St. Paul2,197 1,510 1,416 – – 5,12373.3% 2,980 1,584 – – – SC SC Sedgewick2,867 567 838 – – 4,27271.6%Elected on 1st count SC SC Spirit River2,155 1,194 631 – – 3,98068.9%Elected on 1st count SC SC Stettler3,249 953 – – – 4,20167.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Stony Plain2,188 1,037 872 – – 4,09768.9%Elected on 1st count SC SC Taber2,559 501 463 – – 3,523 62.6%Elected on 1st count SC SC Vegreville2,101 1,276 763 – – 4,14070.1%Elected on 1st count SC SC Vermilion1,999 1,158 1,179 – – 4,33671.9% 2,196 – 1,323 – – SC SC Wainwright2,877 887 833 – – 4,59770.4%Elected on 1st count SC SC Warner1,691 – 598 – – 2,289 53.6%Elected on 1st count SC SC Wetaskiwin2,827 1,232 1,414 – – 5,47375.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Willingdon2,111 1,861 – – – 3,97272.6%Elected on 1st count 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          

  Social Credit   CCF   Liberal   Independent Citizen's Association

= Candidate was in previous Legislature = First-time MLA

STV analysis Exhausted votes Ten districts went beyond first-preference counts in order to determine winning candidates:

+ Exhausted votes (1948)DistrictCountsExhausted 1st preference Final Votes% of 1st prefCalgary39,101 36,865 2236 Edmonton46,150 44,256 1,894 Banff-Cochrane3,988 3,429 559 Beaver River4,853 3,815 1,038 Grouard5,592 4,634 958 Lac Ste. Anne4,519 4,143 376 Pincher Creek-Crowsnest4,879 3,337 1,542 Redwater3,776 3,484 292 St. Paul5,123 4,564 559 Vermilion4,336 3,519 817

Calgary All parties other than the Independent Movement fielded full slates.

PartyCandidatesMLAs elected 1944 1940 ± 1944 1940 ±5 5 2 2 5 5 1 1 5 – 5 1 – 1Independent Citizen's Association3 4 1 1 2 11 5 4 – – –1 – 1 – – –2 – 2 – – –Total22 19 3 5 5

(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.)General Statement by Returning Officer, Calgary, August 17, 1948

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.

PartyCandidatesMLAs elected 1944 1940 ± 1944 1940 ±5 5 3 2 15 5 1 1 5 – 5 1 – 1Independent Citizen's Association1 4 3 – 1 1– 1 1 – 1 1– 5 5 – – –Total16 20 4 5 5

(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.)General Statement by Returning Officer Edmonton August 17, 1948

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

References