Edmonton-Castle Downs

Edmonton-Castle Downs
Alberta electoral district

2010 boundaries
Provincial electoral district
Legislature Legislative Assembly of Alberta
MLA
 
 		 

Thomas Lukaszuk
Progressive Conservative

District created 1996
First contested 1997
Last contested 2012

Edmonton-Castle Downs is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.

The district was created in 1997 boundary redistribution when Edmonton-Roper merged with the north half of Edmonton-Mayfield. The riding has swung between Liberal and Progressive Conservative control since it was created. The 2004 election was very controversial with near even support for both the Liberal and Progressive Conservative candidates the outcome was decided in the third recount.

History

The electoral district was created in the 1996 boundary redistribution from parts of Edmonton-Mayfield and Edmonton-Roper. The 2010 boundary redistribution saw some big changes to the riding with all land west of 127 street ceded to Edmonton-Calder and the eastern boundary that existed at 97 Street between the Edmonton city limits and 167 Avenue moved east to 82 Street in land that was part of Edmonton-Decore.

Boundary history

Electoral history

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Edmonton-Castle Downs[2]
Assembly Years Member Party
See Edmonton-Mayfield 1993-1997 and Edmonton-Roper 1993-1997
24th 1997–1999 Pamela Paul-Zobaric Liberal
1999–2001 Independent
25th 2001–2004 Thomas Lukaszuk Progressive Conservative
26th 2004–2005 Chris Kibermanis Liberal Member elect
2005–2008 Thomas Lukaszuk Progressive Conservative
27th 2008–present

The electoral district was created in the 1997 boundary redistribution. The first election held in 1997 saw Liberal candidate Pamela Paul-Zobaric elected. She won a very closely contested race defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Ihor Broda and two other candidates by just over 100 votes. She left the Liberal caucus over rights issues for women on November 15, 1999 to sit as an Independent. She did not run again in the 2001 election.

The second and current representative of the district is Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk. He won a three way race in the 2001 general election with just over half the popular vote to pick up the seat for his party. He would run for a second term in the 2004 election. That election would be the most controversial in years.

Lukaszuk was defeated on election night by a few votes over Liberal candidate Chris Kibbermanis. A recount by Elections Alberta confirmed Kibbermanis as the winner and declared him as a Member Elect. Lukaszuk and his campaign team took the recount process to the courts and won the election in the third judicial recount.

Lukaszuk and Kibbermanis would face each other again in the 2008 general election. Lukaszuk would surge in popularity winning over half the popular vote, while Lukaszuk marginally increased his vote his percentage dropped to 36% of the total. In 2010 Lukaszuk was appointed by Premier Ed Stelmach as Minister of Employment and Immigration.

Legislature results

1997 general election

1997 Alberta general election results[3] Turnout 50.54% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Liberal Pamela Paul-Zobaric 4,456 41.32% *
Progressive ConservativeIhor Broda 4,373 40.55%
New DemocraticPeter Johnsen 1,494 13.86%
Social CreditDave Friesen 460 4.27%
Total 10,783 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 32
21,400 Eligible Electors
     Liberal pickup new district Swing N/A

2001 general election

2001 Alberta general election results[4] Turnout 47.03% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
Progressive ConservativeThomas Lukaszuk 5,971 51.10% 10.55%
LiberalBoris Yaremko 4,479 38.33% -2.99%
New DemocraticMichael Charrois 1,235 10.57% -3.29%
Total 11,685 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 34
24,921 Eligible Electors
     Progressive Conservative pickup from Independent Swing -6.77%

2004 general election and judicial recount

The 2004 election saw a field of five candidates. Incumbent Thomas Lukaszuk was running for his second term in office after winning a close race in 2001. Chris Kibermannis was chosen as the Liberal candidate. He was a former draft pick for the Winnipeg Jets and a welder by trade. The NDP chose Peter Cross, who is a small business owner working as a graphics artist and long time Edmonton resident.[5]

2004 Alberta general election unofficial results[6] Turnout 41.42%
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
     Liberal Chris Kibermanis 5,019 41.79%
     Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk 5,014 41.75%
     NDP Peter Cross 1,317 10.97%
AllianceColin Presizniuk 583 4.85%
     Social Credit Ross Korpi 78 0.64%
Total 12,011 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 96

Rounding out the field of candidates, the Alberta Alliance running their first campaign acclaimed candidate Colin Presizniuk and Social Credit run candidate Ross Korpi. Presizniuk is a high profile Edmonton area accountant and consultant who runs Presizniuk and Associates.[7]

The 2004 election proved to very contentious. On election night returns for the district had Liberal candidate Chris Kibermanis winning an incredibly tight race by three votes over Progressive Conservative incumbent Thomas Lukaszuk. The race split the riding's 79 precincts with Kibermanis winning 43 to Lukaszuk's 36. The poll by poll numbers show the race was evenly divided across the board as no candidate was particularly strong in a geographic area. The other three candidates were only a marginal factor with the race polarizing between the Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals.[6] NDP candidate Peter Cross made a respectable but distant third place showing. He gained votes for his party winning a slightly higher plurality, but decreasing in percentage of popular vote over the 2001 results.

At the bottom of the field, the Alberta Alliance candidate Colin Presizniuk took about 5% of the popular vote. His results were consistent with the party's showing in other Edmonton districts. The Social Credit party running their first candidate in the riding since 1997, saw a significant decrease in support as Ross Korpi barely registered with voters.

The razor thin election night margin separating the two candidates kept the results in doubt. The automatic recount process completed a few days later by returning officer Elizabeth Burk, narrowed the margin even further as Lukaszuk would gain two votes.[8] In addition to the results, voter turnout in the riding dropped to a record low almost reaching 42%. The turn out was significantly down falling five points from the 2001 election, and almost nine percentage points from the election in 1997.

Alberta Court of Appeal judicial recount[9] Turnout 41.42% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
Progressive ConservativeThomas Lukaszuk 5,022 41.78% -9.32%
     Liberal Chris Kibermanis 5,019 41.76% 3.43% *
New DemocraticPeter Cross 1,314 10.93% 0.36%
AllianceColin Presizniuk 586 4.88%
Social CreditRoss Korpi 78 0.58%
Total 12,019 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 86
29,226 Eligible Electors
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing -6.38%

After the Official results were announced by Elections Alberta, the legislative standings on the Alberta Legislature website had been updated to reflect Kibermanis winning as a member-elect. The Progressive Conservatives immediately challenged the results in the Court of Queen's Bench. The first judge at the Court of Queen's Bench upheld the returning officers verdict of a three vote margin. A second count was done and the results were verified the same as the first. The Progressive Conservatives appealed the results to the Court of Appeal of Alberta.

The Alberta Court of Appeals disputed a number of previously rejected ballots increasing the margin of Thomas Lukaszuk from 5,016 votes to 5,022 votes. The court also added some votes for Presizniuk and took some away for Cross, Korpi and Kibermanis did not see any change in their totals. As a result of the judicial ruling, the previous judicial counts and the Elections Alberta official count were over turned. Kibermanis did not have the resources to appeal the third judicial decision and conceded defeat. Thomas Lukaszuk was declared re-elected and returned to office. After the results were made official, the Liberals announced that Kibermanis would be the candidate for the next general election and would continue campaigning in the riding until the next writ period.

As a direct result of this election, both the campaigns for Thomas Lukaszuk and Chris Kibermanis filed an application to the Court of Appeal to reimburse the legal costs of contesting the results. No provisions existed under the Election Act and the appeals were denied. In October 2005 the Standing Legislative Offices Committee reviewed the matter and changes were recommended to allow candidates to be reimbursed for their legal costs.[8]

2008 general election

2008 Alberta general election results[10] Turnout 36.74% Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
Progressive ConservativeThomas Lukaszuk 7,159 51.55% 9.77%
     Liberal Chris Kibermanis 5,090 36.65% -5.11%
New DemocraticAli Haymour 1,341 9.66% -1.27%
Greens Bob Reckhow 297 2.14% *
Total 13,887 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 57
37,952 Eligible Electors
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing 7.44%

2012 general election

2012 Alberta general election Turnout % Swing
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Party Personal
     Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk 7,974 52.61
     Wildrose John Oplanich 3,277 21.62
     NDP Brian Labelle 1,914 12.63 *
     Liberal Kim Cassady 1,738 11.47 *
     Alberta Party Jeff Funnell 255 1.68 *
Total
Rejected, spoiled and declined
Eligible electors / Turnout %
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing %

Senate nominee results

2004 Senate nominee election district results

2004 Senate nominee election results: Edmonton-Castle Downs[11] Turnout 41.69%
Affiliation Candidate Votes % Votes % Ballots Rank
     Progressive Conservative Betty Unger 4,737 15.95% 49.04% 2
     Independent Link Byfield 3,362 11.32% 34.80% 4
     Progressive Conservative Bert Brown 3,328 11.21% 34.45% 1
     Progressive Conservative Cliff Breitkreuz 3,184 10.72% 32.96% 3
Alliance Michael Roth 2,812 9.47% 29.11% 7
     Independent Tom Sindlinger 2,735 9.21% 28.31% 9
Alliance Gary Horan 2,488 8.38% 25.76% 10
Alliance Vance Gough 2,472 8.33% 25.59% 8
     Progressive Conservative David Usherwood 2,447 8.24% 25.33% 6
     Progressive Conservative Jim Silye 2,129 7.17% 22.04% 5
Total Votes 29,694 100%
Total Ballots 9,660 3.07 Votes Per Ballot
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 2,523

Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot

Student Vote results

2004 election

Participating Schools[12]
Caernarvon School

On November 19, 2004 a Student Vote was conducted at participating Alberta schools to parallel the 2004 Alberta general election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. The vote was conducted in 80 of the 83 provincial electoral districts with students voting for actual election candidates. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.

2004 Alberta Student Vote results[13]
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
     Liberal Chris Kibermanis 46 40.35%
     Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk 30 26.32%
AllianceColin Presizniuk 17 14.91%
     NDP Peter Cross 14 12.28%
     Social Credit Ross Korpi 7 6.14%
Total 114 100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 11

2012 election

2012 Alberta Student Vote results
Affiliation Candidate Votes %
     Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk %
WildroseJohn Oplanich
     Liberal Kim Cassady %
     Alberta Party Jeff Funnell %
     NDP Brian Labelle %
Total ' 100%

References

  1. ↑ "E‑4.1". Statutes of the Province of Alberta. Government of Alberta. 2003. p. 16.
  2. ↑ "Members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 1905-2006" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
  3. ↑ "1997 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Edmonton-Castle Downs Official Results 2001 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Peter Cross biography". Alberta NDP. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Edmonton-Castle Downs of Unofficial Results 2004 Alberta general election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
  7. ↑ "homepage". Presizniuk and Associates. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Legislative Offices Committee" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. October 12, 2005. pp. LO–35. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  9. ↑ "Edmonton-Calder Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  10. ↑ The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp. 276–279.
  11. ↑ "Senate Nominee Election 2004 Tabulation of Official Results" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
  12. ↑ "School by School results". Student Vote Canada. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  13. ↑ "Riding by Riding Results - the Candidates". Student Vote Canada. Retrieved 2008-04-19.

External links