1930 Alberta general election

1930 Alberta general election

← 1926 June 19, 1930 (1930-06-19) 1935 →
← outgoing members members →
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 1930 Alberta general election was held on June 19, 1930, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

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

This election, like the previous election (1926), used Single Transferable Voting in Edmonton and Calgary (Medicine Hat no longer had multiple seats). and used Alternative Voting in districts outside those two cities.

This provincial election, like the previous election, saw district-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting) used 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 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 Alternative Voting.

Results[]

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.^[3]

The first count results showed Delisle and Dakin separated by seven votes with Lebel holding the balance of 87 votes. Under STV, the least-popular candidate was eliminated and his votes transferred.^[3] 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.^[4]

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 winning by four votes. Delisle's election was overturned and Dakin picked up the seat.^[5]

Members elected[]

• Edmonton and Calgary

The six front runners in the First Count were elected in the end, after necessary vote transfers were conducted. Thus, the result under STV was the same as would have been the case if the election had been held using SNTV. Single voting in a six-seat district ensured mixed representation. In Edmonton, candidates of four parties were elected, representing a large majority of voters. In Calgary, candidates of three parties were elected, representing a large majority of voters.^[6]

References[]

Further reading[]

• The Editors, ed. (1930). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1929–30. Toronto: The Annual Review Company. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)

External links[]

• Elections Alberta
• Legislative Assembly of Alberta