1905 Alberta general election

The 1905 Alberta general election was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on 9 November 1905, to elect twenty five members of the Alberta legislature to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly, shortly after the province was created out of the Northwest Territories on 1 September 1905.

1905 Alberta general election

9 November 1905 (1905-11-09)
25 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 13 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Alexander Rutherford R. B. Bennett Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 3 August 1905 1905 Leader's seat Strathcona Calgary Last election 1 9 Seats won 22 2 Popular vote 14,485 9,342 Percentage 55.9% 37.1%
Premier before election Alexander C. Rutherford Liberal Premier after election Alexander C. Rutherford Liberal

The Alberta Liberal Party of Alexander C. Rutherford won twenty three of the twenty five seats in the new legislature, defeating the Conservative Party, which was led by a young lawyer, Richard Bennett, who later served as Prime Minister of Canada.

Prior to the 1905 election the two political parties saw numerous changes and defections, In Alberta a host of former Liberal-Conservative MLA's jumped ship to the Liberals, when Sir Wilfrid Laurier appointed the Liberal provisional government prior to the election. The Conservatives had no strong leader to rally around at the time as Frederick Haultain had moved to Saskatchewan.

The election in 1905 was a bitter one, especially in Calgary and Southern Alberta where the Liberals were accused of vote tampering and interfering with Conservative voters. Recounts especially in Calgary took almost a month and saw the result swing back and forth. The scandal led to the arrest of some key Liberal organizers, including William Henry Cushing's campaign manager, who had been a returning officer at a Calgary polling station.

The boundaries of the electoral districts for the first Alberta general election were prescribed in the Alberta Act (Canada). In 1905 Albertans would vote by marking an "X" on a blank sheet of paper using a coloured pencil which corresponded to candidate whom they wished to vote for.[1]