1930 Alberta general election

The 1930 Alberta general election was held on June 19, 1930, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

1930 Alberta general election

June 19, 1930 (1930-06-19)

63 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
32 seats were needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader John E. Brownlee John W. McDonald
Party United Farmers Liberal
Leader since November 23, 1925 March 27, 1930
Leader's seat Ponoka ran in unknown
Last election 43 seats, 39.7% 7 seats, 26.2%
Seats before 44 6
Seats won 39 11
Seat change 5 5
Popular vote 74,187[1] 46,275
Percentage 39.4% 24.6%
Swing 0.3% 1.6%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader David M. Duggan Fred J. White
Party Conservative Dominion Labor
Leader since 1930 between 1921 & 1926
Leader's seat Edmonton Calgary
Last election 4 seats, 22.1% 5 seats, 7.8%
Seats before 4 5
Seats won 6 4
Seat change 2 1
Popular vote 27,954 14,354
Percentage 14.8% 7.6%
Swing 7.3% 0.2%

Premier before election

John E. Brownlee
United Farmers

Premier after election

John E. Brownlee
United Farmers

The United Farmers of Alberta won election to a third term in government, and John E. Brownlee continued as premier.

This provincial election, like the previous election (1926), used district-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting) to elect the MLAs of Edmonton and Calgary. (Medicine Hat no longer had multiple seats.) City-wide districts were used to elect multiple MLAs in the two main cities.

All the other MLAs were elected in single-member districts through Instant-runoff voting.

Th United Farmers again ran one candidate in Edmonton and won that seat and did not run in Calgary.

Altogether in the cities the UFA won just one seat in the cities (in Edmonton) but won a great share of the rural seats, by securing the support of a majority of votes in each district, as required under IRV (AKA Alternative Voting).

The effect of STV in the cities was that candidates of four parties - UFA, Conservative, Liberal and Labour - were elected in Edmonton reflecting votes cast.

STV in Calgary similarly produced mixed representation reflecting votes cast. Candidates of the Conservative, Liberal and Labour parties were elected there.[2]

Nominations

There were a significant number of Independent nominations, many of which were in districts where the Liberals chose not to field candidates. In addition, four went to Communist Party members:

Communist candidates in the 1930 election[3]
District Candidate Votes received
(on 1st preference)
CalgaryJohn O'Sullivan460
DrumhellerJohn O'Sullivan188
EdmontonJan Lakeman752
Rocky MountainRich Sudworth783
Total2,183

Beaver River

The most closely contested race in the election happened in the Beaver River electoral district. The election was a three-way race between incumbent United Farmers MLA John Delisle Liberal candidate Henry Dakin and Independent candidate Luc Lebel.[4]

The first count results showed Delisle leading Dakin by seven votes. Lebel was in third place with 87 votes. Under Instant runoff voting, when no candidate has a majority, the least-popular candidate is eliminated and his votes transferred.[4] Lebel was eliminated and his 87 votes were transferred where second-choice preference had been marked. The new vote tallies showed Delisle with 21 more votes than Dakin. Delisle was declared elected on June 25, 1930, six days after the election was held.[5]

The Liberals challenged the results in provincial court. A judicial recount was ordered. Judge Taylor concluded on August 21, 1930, that the second count results showed Dakin had four more votes than Delisle. Delisle's election was overturned, and Dakin picked up the seat.[6]

1930 redistribution of districts

An Act was passed in 1930 providing for an increase of seats from 60 to 63, upon the next election.[7] Calgary and Edmonton now returned six MLAs each instead of five each, and the following other changes were made:

AbolishedNew
New districts
Merger of districts
  1. from parts of Edmonton, Leduc and Victoria
  2. from parts of Bow Valley and Hand Hills
  3. from part of Peace River

Results

Elections to the 7th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1930)
Party Leader Candidates First-preference votes Seats
Votes ±  % Fpv Change (pp) 1926 1930 ±
United Farmers John E. Brownlee 4774,1872,22039.41 -0.27
 
43
39 / 63
4
Liberal John W. McDonald 3646,2751,17524.59 -1.58
 
7
11 / 63
4
Conservative David M. Duggan 1827,95412,13714.85 -7.25
 
4
6 / 63
2
Labour Fred J. White 1114,3542317.63 -0.16
 
5
4 / 63
1
Independent 2523,26610,71212.36 11.66 11.66
 
3 / 63
3
Communist Jan Lakeman 42,1832,1831.16 1.16 1.16
 
0 / 63
Independent Labour Campaigned as Independent -1.37
 
1
0 / 63
1
Total141 188,219 100.00%
Rejected ballots 7,7071,148
Turnout 195,92611,934 66.7%0.5
Registered voters 293,79820,048

    MLAs elected


      Synopsis of results

      Results by riding  1930 Alberta general election (all except Calgary and Edmonton)[8]
      Riding First-preference votes Turnout
      [a 1]
      Final counts Winning party
      Name UFA Lib Con Lab Comm Ind Total UFA Lib Con Lab Ind 1926 1930
       
      Acadia 2,1038232,926 74.3% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Alexandra 1,7256492,374 54.2% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Athabasca 8611,0571,918 63.9% Elected on 1st count Lib Lib
      Beaver River[9] 1,0281,021872,136 65.7% 1,0321,036 UFA Lib
      Bow Valley 9591,2532,212 81.8% Elected on 1st count Lib Ind
      Camrose 3,1372,0865,223 78.1% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Cardston 1,3648252,189 65.4% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Clover Bar 1,3386928662,896 68.9% 1,4621,115 New UFA
      Cochrane 1,1741,1622,336 76.4% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Coronation 2,0841,9834,067 80.5% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Cypress 1,3151,0602,375 76.7% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Didsbury 1,7561,4703,226 78.5% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Drumheller 8661881,644[a 2]2,698 80.6% 1,0361,113 New Ind
      Edson 7772,4343,211 61.4% Elected on 1st count Lab Lab
      Empress 9416171,558 71.3% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Gleichen 1,5661,0692,635 67.2% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Grande Prairie Acclamation[a 3] New UFA
      Grouard 1,0171,7062,723 68.4% Elected on 1st count Lib Lib
      Hand Hills 2,6891,5074,196 74.3% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Innisfail 1,2438786042,725 71.8% 1,3621,147 UFA UFA
      Lac Ste. Anne Acclamation UFA UFA
      Lacombe 1,9321,8303,762 75.4% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Leduc 1,4081,4682,876 65.2% Elected on 1st count UFA Lib
      Lethbridge 2,0362,603[a 4]4,639 67.1% 2,2381,978 Lab Lab
      Little Bow Acclamation UFA UFA
      Macleod 1,5398002,339 76.2% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Medicine Hat 1,7741,1509353,859 74.1% 2,0461,365 Lib Lib
      Nanton-Claresholm 1,4157332,148 65.4% Elected on 1st count New UFA
      Okotoks-High River 2,8341,6684,502 72.9% Elected on 1st count New UFA
      Olds 1,7901,5773,367 74.2% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Peace River 1,3317952,126 47.7% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Pembina 2,0941,1603,254 67.7% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Pincher Creek 9209591,879 79.1% Elected on 1st count UFA Lib
      Ponoka Acclamation UFA UFA
      Red Deer 2,1442,0564,200 76.4% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Ribstone 1,6728372712,780 71.7% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Rocky Mountain 8207831,6043,207 66.5% Elected on 1st count Lab Ind
      St. Albert 1,4271,1612,588 80.0% Elected on 1st count Lib UFA
      St. Paul 1,6351,6533,288 71.9% Elected on 1st count UFA Lib
      Sedgewick 2,2658283,093 62.6% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Stettler 1,9347611,1473,842 70.7% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Stony Plain 1,4061,2472,653 69.2% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Sturgeon 2,5561,1293,685 63.0% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Taber 1,8481,5163,364 72.2% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Vegreville 2,3641,7574,121 72.9% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Vermilion 2,5518153,366 62.3% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Victoria 1,5881,522473,157 77.0% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Wainwright 1,4466501,0053,101 74.9% 1,5641,254 UFA UFA
      Warner 1,3427092,051 70.7% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      Wetaskiwin 1,4171,7133,130 77.5% Elected on 1st count UFA Lib
      Whitford 1,799766472,612 59.8% Elected on 1st count UFA UFA
      1. including spoilt ballots
      2. Fred Moyer led with 922 votes, and was the eventual winner.
      3. Hugh Allen was previously incumbent in Peace River
      4. W. D. L. Hardie received 1,598 votes; Robert Barrowman received 1,005 votes. Barrowman would be eliminated on the next count.
        = Open seat
        = turnout is above provincial average
        = Candidate was in previous Legislature
        = Incumbent had switched allegiance
        = Previously incumbent in another riding
        = Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
        = Incumbency arose from by-election gain
        = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
        = Multiple candidates
        = on judicial recount

      Multi-member districts

        = Candidate was in previous Legislature
        = First-time MLA
        = Previously incumbent in another district.

      STV analysis

      Exhausted votes

      Nine districts went beyond first-preference counts in order to determine winning candidates:

      Exhausted votes (1930)
      District Counts Exhausted
      1st preference Final Votes % of 1st pref
      Beaver River[9] 2,1362,06868 3.183.18
       
      Calgary 24,41723,3751,042 4.274.27
       
      Clover Bar 2,8962,577319 11.0211.02
       
      Drumheller 2,6982,121577 21.3821.38
       
      Edmonton 21,18919,5461,643 7.757.75
       
      Innisfail 2,7252,509216 7.937.93
       
      Lethbridge 4,6394,216423 9.129.12
       
      Medicine Hat 3,8593,411448 11.6111.61
       
      Wainwright 3,1012,818283 9.139.13
       


      But of the remaining votes, 88 percent were used to elect someone in Edmonton; 90 percent were used to elect someone in Calgary; more than 50 percent were used to elect the winner in each district outside Edmonton and Calgary.[10]

      Calgary

      Calgary (1930 Alberta general election)[11]
      PartyCandidateFPv%Count
      12345678910
      Conservative John Irwin 22.61% 5,520 3,489
      Liberal George Webster 14.95% 3,651 3,651 3,489
      Liberal John Bowlen 10.64% 2,598 2,667 2,700 2,711 2,721 2,727 2,821 2,823 2,869 3,588
      Labour Fred J. White 10.59% 2,585 2,659 2,673 2,874 2,916 3,335 3,515 3,489
      Conservative Hugh Farthing 9.33% 2,279 2,957 2,966 2,979 2,994 3,001 3,132 3,133 3,731 3,731
      Conservative Harold McGill 6.69% 1,634 2,226 2,238 2,252 2,260 2,266 2,446 2,449 3,089 3,293
      Independent Robert Parkyn 6.32% 1,544 1,608 1,616 1,699 1,856 1,933 2,056 2,067 2,106 2,296
      Liberal Robert Weir 4.88% 1,191 1,260 1,328 1,339 1,344 1,359 1,502 1,508 1,579
      Conservative H.S. Patterson 4.12% 1,007 1,368 1,374 1,382 1,395 1,405 1,480 1,480
      Independent A.C. MacKay 4.06% 992 1,078 1,083 1,092 1,097 1,107
      Labour W.E. Turner 2.35% 575 589 590 590 590
      Communist John O'Sullivan 1.88% 460 469 469 469
      Labour Thomas Vickers 1.56% 381 390 391
      Exhausted ballots 6 11 52 266 306 487 490 576 1,042
      Electorate: 43,217   Valid: 24,417   Spoilt: 564   Quota: 3,489   Turnout: 57.80  

          The vote count proceeded in the following order:[11]

          • Irwin and Webster, having achieved the quota, were declared elected on the first count, and their excess amounts were distributed in 2nd and 3rd Count.
          • Vickers, O'Sullivan and Turner were then eliminated in turn. (A candidate once eliminated or elected does not receive more votes.)
          • MacKay was then eliminaerd. His vote transfers pushed White over the quota and he was declared elected.
          • White's surplus votes were transferred
          • Patterson was eliminated. His vote transfers pushed Farthing over the quota and he was declared elected. It was not necessary to allocate Farthing's excess quota as it was less than the difference between the remaining candidates.
          • Weir was eliminated. The transfers of his votes did not affect the order of popularity of the three remaining candidates. Thrre were two remaining open seats. Bowlen and McGill, being the top two of the remaining three candidates, were declared elected. Parkyn was the only incumbent MLA to be defeated, and he was the only candidate who was not either elected or eliminated.
          Calgary (1930 Alberta general election)
          (analysis of transferred votes, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)
          Party Candidate Maximum
          round
          Maximum
          votes
          Share in
          maximum
          round
          Maximum votes
          First round votesTransfer votes
          Conservative John Irwin 1 5,520 22.61%
          Liberal George Webster 1 3,651 14.95%
          Liberal John Bowlen 10 3,588 15.35%
          Labour Fred J. White 7 3,515 14.69%
          Conservative Hugh Farthing 9 3,731 15.65%
          Conservative Harold McGill 10 3,293 14.09%
          Independent Robert Parkyn 10 2,296 9.82%
          Liberal Robert Weir 9 1,579 6.62%
          Conservative H.S. Patterson 7 1,480 6.18%
          Independent A.C. MacKay 6 1,107 4.59%
          Labour W.E. Turner 5 590 2.44%
          Communist John O'Sullivan 4 469 1.92%
          Labour Thomas Vickers 3 391 1.60%
          Exhausted votes 1,042 4.27%
          Initial terminal transfer rates for votes (1930)
          Transferred fromNon-transferrable% transferred toTotal
          ConservativeLiberalLabourIndependentCommunist
           Conservative (Irwin) 61,6311389715092,031
          0.30%80.31%6.79%4.78%7.39%0.44%100.00%
           Independent (MacKay) 1813862371801231,107
          16.35%34.87%21.41%16.26%11.11%100.00%
           Liberal (Weir) 4662047191901,579
          29.51%12.92%45.54%12.03%100.00%

          Edmonton

          Edmonton (1930 Alberta general election)[12][13]
          PartyCandidateFPv%Count
          1234567891011121314
          United Farmers John Lymburn 14.76% 3,230 3,028
          Conservative David Duggan 12.18% 2,665 2,685 2,712 2,746 2,870 2,895 2,978 2,986 3,004 3,006 3,128 3,028
          Labour Charles Gibbs 10.34% 2,262 2,300 2,306 2,371 2,391 2,423 2,439 2,660 3,148 3,028
          Conservative Charles Weaver 9.20% 2,013 2,046 2,102 2,138 2,247 2,272 2,440 2,469 2,499 2,504 2,555 2,573 2,645 2,903
          Liberal William R. Howson 8.39% 1,835 1,857 1,865 1,897 1,922 2,054 2,094 2,123 2,152 2,155 2,181 2,187 2,778 2,915
          Conservative William Atkinson 8.16% 1,786 1,798 1,806 1,823 1,877 1,895 1,985 2,013 2,033 2,034 2,088 2,118 2,189 2,360
          Liberal Warren Prevey 6.08% 1,331 1,349 1,357 1,376 1,390 1,534 1,563 1,597 1,621 1,623 1,703 1,734 2,101 2,284
          Liberal James Collisson 4.75% 1,040 1,047 1,084 1,142 1,171 1,220 1,225 1,232 1,247 1,249 1,302 1,306
          Labour Alfred Farmilo 3.80% 832 837 839 866 878 883 888 925 1,061 1,118 1,671 1,682 1,749
          Labour Samuel Barnes 3.74% 818 826 826 841 845 852 870 914 1,004 1,052
          Communist Jan Lakeman 3.44% 752 754 755 771 776 779 781
          Labour Daniel Kennedy Knott 3.41% 745 756 759 776 787 800 809 889
          Conservative N. C. Willson 2.06% 451 455 464 465 480 480
          Liberal G. V. Pelton 2.02% 442 451 451 476 479
          Conservative J. A. Buchanan 1.94% 424 426 430 438
          Independent Joseph Clarke 1.71% 374 382 390
          Conservative R. D. Tighe 0.86% 189 191
          Exhausted ballots 1 15 35 48 74 89 353 392 392 505 505 643 1,643
          Electorate: 39,209   Valid: 21,189   Spoilt: 690   Quota: 3,028   Turnout: 55.80  

              Lymburn, Gibbs and Duncan were the only candidates that won by achieving the quota. Howson, Weaver and Atkinson won by attaining the three highest amounts of the last four candidates standing in the final count.

              Edmonton (1930 Alberta general election)
              (analysis of transferred votes, candidates ranked in order of 1st preference)
              Party Candidate Maximum
              round
              Maximum
              votes
              Share in
              maximum
              round
              Maximum votes
              First round votesTransfer votes
              UFA John Lymburn 1 3,230 15.24%
              Conservative David Duggan 11 3,128 15.12%
              Labour Charles Gibbs 9 3,148 15.14%
              Conservative Charles Weaver 14 2,903 14.85%
              Liberal William R. Howson 14 2,915 14.91%
              Conservative William Atkinson 14 2,360 12.07%
              Liberal Warren Prevey 14 2,284 11.69%
              Liberal James Collisson 12 1,306 6.31%
              Labour Alfred Farmilo 13 1,749 8.51%
              Labour Samuel Barnes 10 1,052 5.06%
              Communist Jan Lakeman 7 781 3.70%
              Labour Daniel Kennedy Knott 8 889 4.27%
              Conservative N. C. Willson 6 480 2.27%
              Liberal G. V. Pelton 5 479 2.27%
              Conservative J. A. Buchanan 4 438 2.07%
              Independent Joseph Clarke 3 390 1.84%
              Conservative R. D. Tighe 2 191 0.90%
              Exhausted votes 1,643 7.75%
              Initial terminal transfer rates for votes (1930)
              Transferred fromNon-transferrable% transferred toTotal
              ConservativeLiberalLabourIndependentCommunist
               United Farmers (Lymburn) 173566282202
              0.50%36.14%27.72%30.69%3.96%0.99%100.00%
               Conservative (Tighe) 14104531181191
              7.33%54.45%27.75%5.76%4.19%0.52%100.00%
               Independent (Clarke) 209613412416390
              5.13%24.62%34.36%31.79%4.10%100.00%
               Liberal (Pelton) 2668325573479
              5.43%14.20%67.85%11.90%0.63%100.00%
               Communist (Lakeman) 2646570382781
              33.80%8.32%8.96%48.91%100.00%
               Labour (Knott) 396868714889
              4.39%7.65%7.65%80.31%100.00%

              References

              1. Not including four constituencies where UFA elected by acclamation
              2. Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results
              3. "Nominations in Alberta Constituencies". Calgary Albertan. June 10, 1930. p. 9.
              4. "Beaver River Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
              5. "Alberta Government Now Sure Of 40 Seats". Vol 55 No 304. Manitoba Free Press. June 25, 1930. p. 6.
              6. "Recount Gives Libs. Another Alta. Seat". Vol XXIII No 213. The Lethbridge Herald. August 21, 1930. p. 1.
              7. The Legislative Assembly Act Amendment Act, 1930, S.A. 1930, c. 14
              8. A Century of Democracy: Elections of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1905-2005. Edmonton: Legislative Assembly of Alberta. pp. 104–112. ISBN 0-9689217-9-5.
              9. "Beaver River, Liberal Gain, Court Decrees". Calgary Albertan. August 22, 1930. p. 1.
              10. A Report on Alberta Elections 1905-1982. pp. 44–45.
              11. "Bowen, McGill, Webster, Irwin, Farthing, White, Are New Calgary Members". Calgary Albertan. June 20, 1930. p. 1.
              12. "Lymburn's First Choice Votes Are Distributed; Fail To Elect Duggan; Tighe Now Eliminated". Edmonton Bulletin. June 20, 1930. p. 1.
              13. "Fourteen Counts Are Necessary To Elect Six M.L.A.'s". Edmonton Bulletin. June 21, 1930. pp. 1–2.

              Further reading

              This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.