A vote was held on extending the municipal franchise to all people who are aged 21 and over who are
British subjects and have lived in the city for at least one year. At the time of the plebiscite, the right to vote was restricted to property owners and people living in two or more rooms with an assessed value of $400 or more. A similar plebiscite had been held in 1956 and passed by a margin of 56,000 to 26,000 but when the city asked the provincial government to pass legislation enacting the change, the government instead passed legislation allowing each municipality in the province to hold a referendum and so Toronto was required to put the question on the ballot again.[1]
The two sitting controllers running for reelection to the
Board of Control,
Jean Newman and
William Allen, easily won reelection. Newman topped the polls for the second time and after the election she immediately announced her intention to run for mayor in 1960. The decision of Brand and Cornish to run for mayor opened two vacancies on the board. These were won by conservative east end Alderman
Donald Summerville and
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation-backed Alderman
William Dennison. Only narrowly losing was former Toronto mayor
Leslie Saunders. Other notable candidates included former Controller
Roy E. Belyea, Alderman
Ross Parry, and anti-
Blue Laws advocate James Karfilis.
The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on
Metro Toronto Council.
Two aldermen were elected per Ward. The alderman with the most votes was declared Senior Alderman and sat on both Toronto City Council and Metro Council.