1917 Calgary municipal election

1917 Calgary municipal election

December 10, 1917 (1917-12-10)
 
Candidate Michael Copps Costello Herbert Bealey Adshead
Popular vote 2,633 2,622
Percentage 50.10% 49.90%

Mayor before election

Michael Copps Costello

Elected mayor

Michael Copps Costello

The 1917 Calgary municipal election took place on December 10, 1917, to elect a mayor to a one-year term, and a commissioner and six aldermen to two year terms, and three aldermen for a one-year term. These officials sat on the thirty-fourth Calgary City Council. In addition, four members for the Public School Board, three members for the Separate School Board were elected. Also, voters voted on three plebiscites on early closing and half holiday for businesses, payment for aldermen, and election of commissioners for two years.

The nine elected aldermen joined Aldermen John Sidney Arnold, Alexander McTaggart, and Isaac Gideon Ruttle who were previously elected to Calgary City Council for two-year terms in 1916. Robert John Tallon had also been elected the previous year but had resigned to run for commissioner in this election.

Calgary's 1917 municipal election was the first election in Canada to use a system of Proportional representation, under which city councillors were elected using Single Transferable Voting (STV). They were elected at-large in a multiple-member district that covered the whole city. In this election nine councillors were elected in a single contest.

As part of the electoral reform, the mayor and commissioner were henceforth to be elected using Instant-runoff voting. But as both of those contests in this election involved only two candidates, the process was no different than First past the post.