Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills

Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.

It contains the Kneehill County and most of Mountain View County.

This riding in south-central Alberta stretches from the Red Deer River in the east to the area around Cremona in the west. In the 2004 redistribution the boundaries changed somewhat, with an agricultural section in the far west transferred to Banff-Cochrane, while in the southeast a section of the old Drumheller-Chinook riding - including the community of Carbon - was added. Major communities include Olds, Didsbury, Carstairs, Trochu and Three Hills, as well as Olds College.

Agriculture is the major employer, with retail a distant second. While most of Alberta is benefiting from an oil and gas boom, this constituency has been left behind. Household incomes, at $53,174, are below the Alberta average. Seven per cent of residents are considered low income. More than two-thirds of the people here were born in Alberta, while seven per cent are immigrants. People of German origin make up nine per cent of the population. More than 96 per cent say their language at home is English, the second-highest rate in Alberta. (2001 census)

Right-leaning parties have fared well in this riding. Richard Marz, the incumbent, is a Conservative and has held this seat for a decade. In his first election win in 1997, the runner-up was Social Credit candidate Don MacDonald. In 2001, Social Credit ran third, behind Marz, who won easily, and second-place finisher Liberal Gayleen Roelfsema. In 2004, Marz was re-elected, well ahead of Liberal Tony Vonesch and Alberta Alliance Gordon Quantz.

Election results

2004 general election

2004 Alberta general election results			Turnout 56.73%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Richard Marz	7,277	59.40%	Alberta Alliance	Gordon Quantz	2,023	16.51%	Liberal	Tony Vonesch	1,336	10.91%	Separation	Brian Vasseur	746	6.09%	Green	Sarah Henckel-Sutmoller	469	3.83%	NDP	Christopher Davies	257	2.10%	Social Credit	Myrna Kissick	143	1.16%
Total			12,251	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			70

2004 Senate nominee election district results

2004 Senate nominee election results: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills					Turnout 56.98%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	% Votes	% Ballots	Rank	Progressive Conservative	Bert Brown	6,517	19.24%	59.43%	1	Progressive Conservative	Betty Unger	4,721	13.94%	43.05%	2	Progressive Conservative	Jim Silye	3,687	10.89%	33.62%	5	Independent	Link Byfield	3,483	10.28%	31.76%	4	Progressive Conservative	Cliff Breitkreuz	3,439	10.15%	31.36%	3	Progressive Conservative	David Usherwood	2,969	8.77%	27.08%	6	Alberta Alliance	Vance Gough	2,816	8.31%	25.68%	8	Alberta Alliance	Michael Roth	2,500	7.38%	%	7	Alberta Alliance	Gary Horan	2,263	6.68%	20.64%	10	Independent	Tom Sindlinger	1,478	4.36%	13.48%	9
Total Votes			33,873	100%
Total Ballots			10,966	3.09 Votes Per Ballot
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			1,409

Voters had the option of selecting 4 Candidates on the Ballot

2008 general election

2008 Election Results
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Richard Marz	7,786	64.3%	Wildrose Alliance	Curt Engel	2,487	20.54%	Liberal	Tony Vonesch	1,041	8.6%	Green	Kate Haddow	525	4.34%	NDP	Andy Davies	269	2.22%

2004 Student Vote

Participating Schools
Acme School
Carbon School
Didsbury High School
Dr. Elliott School
Prairie Christian Academy
Three Hills School
Trochu Valley School
Westglen 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
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Richard Marz	449	42.20%	Green	Sarah Henckel-Sutmoller	170	15.98%	Alberta Alliance	Gordon Quantz	154	14.47%	Liberal	Tony Vonesch	120	11.28%	Separation	Brian Vasseur	109	10.24%	NDP	Christopher Davies	41	3.85%	Social Credit	Myrna Kissick	21	1.98%
Total			1,064	100%
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			19

References

External links

• Website of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta