1930 Alberta general election

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 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.Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results

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 Communist Party candidates were nominated:

+Communist candidates in the 1930 election District Candidate Votes received(on 1st preference)Calgary John O'Sullivan 460Drumheller John O'Sullivan 188Edmonton Jan Lakeman 752Rocky Mountain Rich Sudworth 783Total 2,183

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.

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. 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.

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.

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

Abolished NewNew districts Clover Barfrom parts of Edmonton, Leduc and Victoria Drumhellerfrom parts of Bow Valley and Hand Hills Grande Prairiefrom part of Peace RiverMerger of districts Claresholm Nanton Nanton-Claresholm High River Okotoks Okotoks-High River

Results +Elections to the 7th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1930)PartyLeaderCandidatesFirst-preference votesSeats Votes ± % Change (pp) 1926 1930 ±John E. Brownlee47 74,187 2,220 39.41 434John W. McDonald36 46,275 1,175 24.59 74David M. Duggan18 27,954 12,137 14.85 42Fred J. White11 14,354 231 7.63 5125 23,266 10,712 12.36 –3Jan Lakeman4 2,183 2,183 1.16 – – –Campaigned as Independent 11Total 141188,219 100.00% Rejected ballots 7,707 1,148 Turnout 195,926 11,934 66.7% 0.5 Registered voters 293,798 20,048

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results + Results by riding1930 Alberta general election (all except Calgary and Edmonton) Riding First-preference votes Turnoutincluding spoilt ballots Final counts Winning partyName UFA Total UFA 1926 1930   Acadia2,103 – – – – 823 2,92674.3%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Alexandra1,725 649 – – – – 2,374 54.2%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Athabasca861 1,057 – – – – 1,918 63.9%Elected on 1st count Lib Lib Beaver River1,028 1,021 – – – 87 2,136 65.7% 1,032 1,036 – – – UFA LibBow Valley 959 – – – – 1,253 2,21281.8%Elected on 1st count Lib Ind Camrose3,137 2,086 – – – – 5,22378.1%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Cardston1,364 825 – – – – 2,189 65.4%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Clover Bar1,338 – 692 – – 866 2,89668.9% 1,462 – – – 1,115 New UFA Cochrane1,174 1,162 – – – – 2,33676.4%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Coronation2,084 – – – – 1,983 4,06780.5%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Cypress1,315 1,060 – – – – 2,37576.7%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Didsbury1,756 – – – – 1,470 3,22678.5%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Drumheller – – – 866 188 1,644Fred Moyer led with 922 votes, and was the eventual winner. 2,69880.6% – – – 1,036 1,113 New Ind Edson – 777 – 2,434 – – 3,211 61.4%Elected on 1st count Lab Lab Empress941 – – – – 617 1,55871.3%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Gleichen1,566 – – – – 1,069 2,63567.2%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Grande PrairieAcclamationHugh Allen was previously incumbent in Peace River New UFA Grouard 1,017 1,706 – – – – 2,72368.4%Elected on 1st count Lib Lib Hand Hills2,689 – – – – 1,507 4,19674.3%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Innisfail1,243 878 604 – – – 2,72571.8% 1,362 1,147 – – – UFA UFA Lac Ste. AnneAcclamation UFA UFA Lacombe1,932 – – – – 1,830 3,76275.4%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Leduc1,408 1,468 – – – – 2,876 65.2%Elected on 1st count UFA Lib Lethbridge – – – 2,036 – 2,603W. D. L. Hardie received 1,598 votes; Robert Barrowman received 1,005 votes. Barrowman would be eliminated on the next count. 4,63967.1% – – – 2,238 1,978 Lab Lab Little BowAcclamation UFA UFA Macleod1,539 800 – – – – 2,33976.2%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Medicine Hat – 1,774 1,150 – – 935 3,85974.1% – 2,046 1,365 – – Lib Lib Nanton-Claresholm1,415 – 733 – – – 2,148 65.4%Elected on 1st count New UFA Okotoks-High River2,834 1,668 – – – – 4,50272.9%Elected on 1st count New UFA Olds 1,790 1,577 – – – – 3,36774.2%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Peace River 1,331 – – – – 795 2,126 47.7%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Pembina2,094 – – – – 1,160 3,25467.7%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Pincher Creek920 959 – – – – 1,87979.1%Elected on 1st count UFA Lib PonokaAcclamation UFA UFA Red Deer2,144 – 2,056 – – – 4,20076.4%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Ribstone1,672 837 271 – – – 2,78071.7%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Rocky Mountain – – – 820 783 1,604 3,207 66.5%Elected on 1st count Lab Ind St. Albert 1,427 1,161 – – – – 2,58880.0%Elected on 1st count Lib UFA St. Paul1,635 1,653 – – – – 3,28871.9%Elected on 1st count UFA Lib Sedgewick2,265 – 828 – – – 3,093 62.6%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Stettler1,934 761 1,147 – – – 3,84270.7%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Stony Plain 1,406 1,247 – – – – 2,65369.2%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Sturgeon2,556 1,129 – – – – 3,685 63.0%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Taber 1,848 – – – – 1,516 3,36472.2%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Vegreville2,364 1,757 – – – – 4,12172.9%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Vermilion2,551 815 – – – – 3,366 62.3%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Victoria 1,588 1,522 – – – 47 3,15777.0%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Wainwright1,446 650 – – – 1,005 3,10174.9% 1,564 – – – 1,254 UFA UFA Warner1,342 709 – – – – 2,05170.7%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA Wetaskiwin1,417 1,713 – – – – 3,13077.5%Elected on 1st count UFA Lib Whitford 1,799 766 – – – 47 2,612 59.8%Elected on 1st count UFA UFA

= 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

District Seats won(in order declared)Calgary            Edmonton            

  UFA   Liberal   Conservative   Labour

= 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)DistrictCountsExhausted 1st preference Final Votes% of 1st prefBeaver River2,136 2,068 68 Calgary24,417 23,375 1,042 Clover Bar2,896 2,577 319 Drumheller2,698 2,121 577 Edmonton21,189 19,546 1,643 Innisfail2,725 2,509 216 Lethbridge4,639 4,216 423 Medicine Hat3,859 3,411 448 Wainwright3,101 2,818 283

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

Calgary Electing six MLAs

The vote count proceeded in the following order:

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 eliminated. His vote transfer 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 surplus votes 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. There 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.

+ Initial terminal transfer rates for votes (1930)Transferred from Non-transferrable % transferred to TotalConservative Liberal Labour Independent Communist (Irwin)6 1,631 138 97 150 9 2,0310.30% 80.31% 6.79% 4.78% 7.39% 0.44% 100.00% (MacKay)181 386 237 180 123 – 1,10716.35% 34.87% 21.41% 16.26% 11.11% – 100.00% (Weir)466 204 719 – 190 – 1,57929.51% 12.92% 45.54% – 12.03% – 100.00%

Edmonton Electing six MLAs

Lymburn, Gibbs and Duncan were the only candidates that won by achieving the quota. Howson, Weaver and Atkinson won by attaining the three largest vote tallies of the four candidates still in the running in the final count.

+ Initial terminal transfer rates for votes (1930)Transferred from Non-transferrable % transferred to TotalConservative Liberal Labour Independent Communist (Lymburn)1 73 56 62 8 2 2020.50% 36.14% 27.72% 30.69% 3.96% 0.99% 100.00% (Tighe)14 104 53 11 8 1 1917.33% 54.45% 27.75% 5.76% 4.19% 0.52% 100.00% (Clarke)20 96 134 124 – 16 3905.13% 24.62% 34.36% 31.79% – 4.10% 100.00% (Pelton)26 68 325 57 – 3 4795.43% 14.20% 67.85% 11.90% – 0.63% 100.00% (Lakeman)264 65 70 382 – – 78133.80% 8.32% 8.96% 48.91% – – 100.00% (Knott)39 68 68 714 – – 8894.39% 7.65% 7.65% 80.31% – – 100.00%

References

Further reading

External links Elections Alberta Legislative Assembly of Alberta