1908 Prince Edward Island general election
Canadian provincial election
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The 1908 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on November 18, 1908.[1]
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November 18, 1908
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All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 16 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The election was won by the governing Liberals, led by incumbent Premier Francis Haszard. Haszard had taken over from his predecessor, Arthur Peters, following his death in January 1908.
Haszard resigned as Premier in 1911 following appointment to the province's Supreme Court, and he was succeeded as Premier by H. James Palmer. Due to his designation as Premier, Palmer ran in a by-election in his district of 3rd Queens; traditionally, the Opposition does not run a candidate in these triggered by-elections, but the Conservatives did in the December, 1911 by-election and defeated Palmer in his own district.
The opposition Conservatives, led by John A. Mathieson, gained five seats in this election.
Party Standings
| Party | Party Leader | Seats | Popular Vote | |||
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| 1904 | Elected | # | % | |||
| Liberal | Francis Haszard | 22 | 17 | 15,488 | 51.6% | |
| Conservative | John A. Mathieson | 8 | 13 | 14,541 | 48.4% | |
Members Elected
The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.
In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district, while Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district.[2]