The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting.

Urban municipalities within the riding include the towns of Grimshaw, High Level, Manning, Peace River, and Rainbow Lake, as well as the village of Nampa.

Peace River borders the ridings of Central Peace-Notley to the southwest, Lesser Slave Lake to the southeast, and Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo to the east.

Peace River was established when the province was created in 1905, covering the western section of what had been the District of Athabasca, which had never been represented in the North West Assembly.

The district boundaries have been revised many times over the last century, but have always contained the town of Peace River and the northwestern section of the province.

The results of the election were never released to the public; they were overturned by the cabinet due to significant irregularities and the riding was declared vacant.

Thomas Brick, an Independent Liberal who was encouraged to run by local farmers, won with a landslide over Cornwall.

Bailey served from 1930 until he was defeated by Social Credit candidate William Lampley in the 1935 general election.

Martin also served a single term before Social Credit candidate William Gilliland defeated him in the 1944 election.

The Progressive Conservative dominance over Peace River continued as candidate Gary Friedel won the district in 1993.

In 2015, a close race saw NDP MLA Debbie Jabbour defeat Oberle by a mere 282 votes.

Jabbour was subsequently also elected as Deputy Speaker of the province, and is the current representative for Peace River.

Stunned by the Social Credit victory in 1935, the Liberals and Conservatives jointly endorsed candidates across Alberta in what was known as the Independent Citizen's Association.

[5] Incumbent United Farmers MLA Donald MacBeth Kennedy resigned his district after only holding it for a few months to pursue a seat in the 1921 Canadian federal election.

The only other seat available was Ponoka which had been made vacant by the death of United Farmers MLA Percival Baker.

The timing of the by-elections was deliberately chosen to coincide with the federal election to ensure that opposition candidates would be unlikely to oppose the cabinet ministers.

This was the first election in which the provincial Conservatives nominated a candidate; they chose Alphaeus Patterson to run under their banner.

[6] The provincial Liberals chose William Archibald Rae, a pioneer barrister in the district, to run under their banner.

[8] The provincial cabinet which overturned the 1905 election results due to significant irregularities issued a new writ for February 15, 1906.

The second candidate in the race was Peace River resident, fur trader Thomas Allen Brick who was a supporter of the Rutherford government and ran as an Independent Liberal.

[13] The results were certified on April 24, 1906, by the Clerk of the Executive Council in Edmonton two months after the start of the opening session of the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly thus completing the 1905 general election.

[14] The first election held in 1905 in the Peace River electoral district took place on November 9, 1905, with the rest of the province.

[18] The case was lost when the judge ruled that the courts have no jurisdiction in dealing with matters regarding elections and that responsibility is the purview of the legislature.

[21] This decline in turnout was attributed to heavy rains, high winds and flooding conditions in the district that kept people away from polling stations.

The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority.