Clover Bar is a former Alberta provincial electoral district.
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 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. Question B was slightly modified depending on which city the voters were in.
Province wide Question A of the plebiscite passed in 33 of the 50 districts while Question B passed in all five districts. Clover Bar voted overwhelmingly in favor of the plebiscite. The district recorded average voter turnout almost being equal to the province wide 46% average.
Clover Bar also voted on question B2 with a number of residents living inside the electoral district within the corporate limits of Edmonton. Residents voted for mixed drinking with a super majority. Turnout for question B was also quite high, the Edmonton residents averaged a significantly higher turnout then those who lived out of city.
Official district returns were released to the public on December 31, 1957. The Social Credit government in power at the time did not considered the results binding. 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 were designated Local Option Zones by the Alberta Liquor Control Board and considered effective dry zones, business owners that wanted a license had to petition for a binding municipal plebiscite in order to be granted a license.