1913 Edmonton municipal election

rdf:langString 1913 Edmonton municipal election

rdf:langString The 1913 municipal election was held December 8, 1913 to elect a mayor and five aldermen to sit on Edmonton City Council, trustees to sit on the public school board, and four trustees to sit on the separate school board. There were ten aldermen on city council, but five of the positions were already filled: Hugh Calder, Joseph Driscoll, James East, Gustave May, and Harry Smith had all been elected to two-year terms in 1912 and were still in office. Each voter could cast up to five votes. There were eight trustees on the public school board, but three of the positions were already filled: Alex Butchart, K W MacKenzie, and J J McKenzie had been elected to two-year terms in 1912. The election of five trustees in 1913 would bring the board's size to eight, an increase from seven. To keep an equal number of trustees elected each year, L D Parney was acclaimed to a one-year term. There were seven positions on the separate board, but three of them were already filled: Wilfrid Gariépy, M J O'Farrell, and Milton Martin had been acclaimed to two-year terms in 1912, and were still in office. The election of four trustees in 1913 would bring the board's size to seven, an increase from six. The 1913 election was the first election in Edmonton's history to see an incumbent mayor defeated. It is also the closest mayoral race in the city's history as measured by percentage of the vote, although the absolute difference in votes between candidates in the 1903 election was smaller.