The History of Voting Reform in Alberta
Alberta has not always used our current voting system. Several different voting systems have been used in provincial elections.
1921 – For the 1921 general election the Liberal government instituted a “block voting” system for the large cities. MLAs from Calgary and Edmonton were elected across the city, rather than in single-seat ridings. Each city elected five MLAs, the winners chosen by plurality (the candidates with the most votes win).
1926 – The United Farmers of Alberta government maintained at-large voting in Calgary and Edmonton but replaced plurality voting with proportional voting. Voters ranked the candidates in order of preference. The winners were those with the highest preferences. (This system is called the single-transferable vote or STV.)
For the rest of the ridings in the province, a system of majority voting was adopted. A single candidate was elected by a preferential ballot, the winner being the one who received 50 per cent plus one vote of the first or subsequent preferences. (This system is called the Alternative Vote or AV.)
This change in the voting system fulfilled a promise the UFA made in its successful 1921 campaign.
1959 – The Social Credit government abolished the province’s mixed system of proportional and majority voting, returning the entire province to single-member districts with plurality voting – commonly known as first-past-the-post.
The government was sharply criticized for changing the voting system without public consultation and was accused of making the change out of self-interest.