| Election Name: | January 1894 Calgary municipal election |
| Country: | Calgary |
| Type: | Municipal |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1893 Calgary municipal election |
| Previous Year: | 1893 |
| Next Election: | December 1894 Calgary municipal election |
| Next Year: | (Dec) 1894 |
| Image1: | 150x150px |
| Candidate1: | Wesley Fletcher Orr |
| Popular Vote1: | 244 |
| Percentage1: | 52.59% |
| Candidate2: | William Henry Cushing |
| Popular Vote2: | 220 |
| Percentage2: | 47.41% |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Alexander Lucas |
| After Election: | Wesley Fletcher Orr |
The January 1894 Calgary municipal election was scheduled for January 15, 1894 to elect a Mayor and nine Councillors to sit on the first Calgary City Council from January 17, 1894 to January 7, 1895. In addition, two members were elected as school trustees.[1]
This was the first election to take place after Calgary was officially incorporated as The City of Calgary under Chapter 33, Ordinance of North-West Territories on January 1, 1894. This was also the first election to establish a Ward system for the election of councillors, splitting the City into three wards, with three representatives each.
The prior Town Charter required municipal elections to take place in December 1893, however the new City Charter came into effect in such a way as to prevent the election from occurring in December 1893, and would require the election to take place in December 1894. The whole of Calgary City Council resigned to force a January election, which was eventually validated as a general election through the legislature.[2]
Voting rights were provided to any male, single woman, or widowed British subject over twenty-one years of age who are assessed on the last revised assessment roll with a minimum property value of $200.
The election was held under combination of First-past-the-post voting and Plurality block voting where each elector was able to cast a vote for the mayor and up to three votes for the candidates running to be ward councillors.[3]
In each ward, each voter was able to cast up to three votes (Plurality block voting).The number of total votes cast thus is much larger than it would have been if each voter cast just one vote.Under Block Voting, the largest voting block often takes all the seats, leaving none to the other voters who might make up the majority of voters.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Elected | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|