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Friday, October 17, 2008

a closer look at some numbers from alberta.

Here's a closer look at how the Alberta results of this week's federal election compare to the two most recent federal elections over the past four years.

2008 Federal Election - Alberta

Party
Conservative
Seats
27 seats
Votes
820,855
Percentage
64.6%%
NDP1 seat 161,409 12.7%
Liberal
0 seats 144,36411.4%
Green
0 seats 111,5058.8%
Independent0 seats 19,995 1.6%

2006 Federal Election - Alberta
Party
Conservative
Seats
28 seats
Votes
930,817
Percentage
65%
Liberal0 seats219,43115.3%
NDP0 seats167,56611.7%
Green
0 seats93,9196.6%
Independent0 seats14,2611%

2004 Federal Election - Alberta
Party
Conservative
Seats
26 seats
Votes
783,379
Percentage
61.6%
Liberal2 seats279,21922.0%
NDP0 seats121,2499.5%
Green
0 seats78,0955.7%
Independent0 seats5990.1%

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Greens are the only party trending upwards. The NDP elected an MP but overall their vote dropped with the Conservatives and Liberals. The Liberals are in the worst shape of the lot and they were barely competitive in one riding.

Anonymous said...

The NDP placed second in 15.
The Libs placed second in 8.
The Cons placed second in 1.
The Greens placed second in 4:

daveberta said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
daveberta said...

Gail: Don't forget James Ford's second place in Edmonton-Sherwood Park.

Idealistic Pragmatist said...

Among other things, this suggests that the NDP's (very very distant) second-place finish across the province is probably due as much to its GOTV machine as it is to an actual uptick in support. We'd have to know more information about the demographics of these voters to be sure, though.

Mellina Huitema said...

Everyone got fewer votes (with the exception of the Greens, apparently) because fewer people voted. It's not rocket surgery.

Anonymous said...

A bit of trivia for you all: The number of MPs with the surname Duncan is up from 0 to 3 in the new Parliament: one NDP, one Liberal, one Conservative; two women, one man; one British Columbian, one Albertan, one Ontarian.

That's nearly 1% of MPs named Duncan. They should form a caucus.

And there is not now, nor has there ever been an MP named MacBeth. (Obscure Shakespearean reference.)

Anonymous said...

I think another thing worth mentioning is the proportion of non-Conservative voters to Conservative voters that have shown up (in my calculation) from the numbers Dave has provided:
2004 non/Con = 61%
2006 non/Con = 53%
2008 non/Con = 53%

Ever since the Conservative party has secured its representation in Alberta by riding the vote split on the left, it seems as though fewer non-Conservative voters have been showing up to the polls. My explanation is despair as a product of disempowerment.

The only explanation I have for the proportion staying the same in 2006 and 2008, and the other variable of decreased voter turnout other than increased apathy, is Conservative arrogance and non-Conservative despair.