Ponoka (provincial electoral district)

Ponoka was one of the original 25 electoral districts contested in the 1905 Alberta general election upon Alberta becoming a province in September 1905. The district was redrawn frequently over the years but remained largely a thin slice in central Alberta. The electoral district was named for the town of Ponoka in central Alberta. From 1924 to 1956, the district used instant-runoff voting to elect its MLA. Ponoka was dissolved in the 1986 electoral district re-distribution to form the Ponoka-Rimbey electoral district. Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) ==Election results==

1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1921 by-election 1926 1930 1935 1940 Percy McKelvey was a candidate for the People's League. 1944 1948 1952 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1982 ==Plebiscite results==

1957 liquor plebiscite On October 30, 1957, a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in Alberta. The government decided to consult Alberta voters to decide on liquor sales and mixed drinking after a divisive debate in the Legislature. The plebiscite was intended to deal with the growing demand for reforming supposedly antiquated liquor control laws. The plebiscite was conducted in two parts. Question A asked in all districts, asked the voters if the sale of liquor should be expanded in Alberta, while Question B asked in a handful of districts within the corporate limits of Calgary and Edmonton asked if men and woman were allowed to drink together in establishments. However the results of the vote led the government to repeal all existing liquor legislation and introduce an entirely new Liquor Act. Municipal districts lying inside electoral districts that voted against the Plebiscite such as Ponoka were designated Local Option Zones by the Alberta Liquor Control Board and considered effective dry zones, business owners that wanted a licence had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a licence. == See also ==