1930 Alberta general election

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox 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.<ref>Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results</ref>

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<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

District	Candidate	Votes received (on 1st preference)
Calgary	John O'Sullivan	460
Drumheller	John O'Sullivan	188
Edmonton	Jan Lakeman	752
Rocky Mountain	Rich Sudworth	783
Total		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.<ref name="1930 official"/>

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.<ref name="1930 official">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="deswin">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name="delisle">Template:Cite news</ref>

1930 redistribution of districts

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

Abolished	New
New districts
	Clover Bar<ref group=a>from parts of Edmonton, Leduc and Victoria</ref>
	Drumheller<ref group=a>from parts of Bow Valley and Hand Hills</ref>
	Grande Prairie<ref group=a>from part of Peace River</ref>
Merger of districts
Claresholm Nanton	Nanton-Claresholm
High River Okotoks	Okotoks-High River

Results

Elections to the 7th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1930)

Party		Leader	Candidates	First-preference votes						Seats
				Votes	±	% Template:Abbr	Change (pp)			1926	1930	±	John E. Brownlee	47	74,187	2,220Template:Increase	39.41	Template:Bartable	43	Template:Composition bar	4Template:Decrease	John W. McDonald	36	46,275	1,175Template:Decrease	24.59	Template:Bartable	7	Template:Composition bar	4Template:Increase	David M. Duggan	18	27,954	12,137Template:Decrease	14.85	Template:Bartable	4	Template:Composition bar	2Template:Increase	Fred J. White	11	14,354	231Template:Increase	7.63	Template:Bartable	5	Template:Composition bar	1Template:Decrease		25	23,266	10,712Template:Increase	12.36	Template:Bartable	–	Template:Composition bar	3Template:Increase	Jan Lakeman	4	2,183	2,183Template:Increase	1.16	Template:Bartable	–	Template:Composition bar	–		–	Campaigned as Independent			Template:Bartable	1	Template:Composition bar	1Template:Decrease
Total			141	188,219		100.00%
Rejected ballots				7,707	1,148Template:Decrease
Turnout				195,926	11,934Template:Increase	66.7%	0.5Template:Decrease
Registered voters				293,798	20,048Template:Increase

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

Results by ridingTemplate:Snd1930 Alberta general election (all except Calgary and Edmonton)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Riding	First-preference votes							Turnout <ref group=a>including spoilt ballots</ref>	Final counts					Winning party
Name	UFA	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Total		UFA	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	1926		1930
Acadia	2,103	–	–	–	–	823	2,926	74.3%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Alexandra	1,725	649	–	–	–	–	2,374	54.2%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Athabasca	861	1,057	–	–	–	–	1,918	63.9%	Elected on 1st count						Lib		Lib
Beaver River<ref name="Albertan2">Template:Cite news</ref>	1,028	1,021	–	–	–	87	2,136	65.7%	1,032	1,036	–	–	–		UFA		Lib
Bow Valley	959	–	–	–	–	1,253	2,212	81.8%	Elected on 1st count						Lib		Ind
Camrose	3,137	2,086	–	–	–	–	5,223	78.1%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Cardston	1,364	825	–	–	–	–	2,189	65.4%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Clover Bar	1,338	–	692	–	–	866	2,896	68.9%	1,462	–	–	–	1,115	New			UFA
Cochrane	1,174	1,162	–	–	–	–	2,336	76.4%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Coronation	2,084	–	–	–	–	1,983	4,067	80.5%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Cypress	1,315	1,060	–	–	–	–	2,375	76.7%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Didsbury	1,756	–	–	–	–	1,470	3,226	78.5%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Drumheller	–	–	–	866	188	1,644<ref group=a>Fred Moyer led with 922 votes, and was the eventual winner.</ref>	2,698	80.6%	–	–	–	1,036	1,113	New			Ind
Edson	–	777	–	2,434	–	–	3,211	61.4%	Elected on 1st count						Lab		Lab
Empress	941	–	–	–	–	617	1,558	71.3%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Gleichen	1,566	–	–	–	–	1,069	2,635	67.2%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Grande Prairie	Acclamation<ref group=a>Hugh Allen was previously incumbent in Peace River</ref>													New			UFA
Grouard	1,017	1,706	–	–	–	–	2,723	68.4%	Elected on 1st count						Lib		Lib
Hand Hills	2,689	–	–	–	–	1,507	4,196	74.3%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Innisfail	1,243	878	604	–	–	–	2,725	71.8%	1,362	1,147	–	–	–		UFA		UFA
Lac Ste. Anne	Acclamation														UFA		UFA
Lacombe	1,932	–	–	–	–	1,830	3,762	75.4%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Leduc	1,408	1,468	–	–	–	–	2,876	65.2%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		Lib
Lethbridge	–	–	–	2,036	–	2,603<ref group=a>W. D. L. Hardie received 1,598 votes; Robert Barrowman received 1,005 votes. Barrowman would be eliminated on the next count.</ref>	4,639	67.1%	–	–	–	2,238	1,978		Lab		Lab
Little Bow	Acclamation														UFA		UFA
Macleod	1,539	800	–	–	–	–	2,339	76.2%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Medicine Hat	–	1,774	1,150	–	–	935	3,859	74.1%	–	2,046	1,365	–	–		Lib		Lib
Nanton-Claresholm	1,415	–	733	–	–	–	2,148	65.4%	Elected on 1st count					New			UFA
Okotoks-High River	2,834	1,668	–	–	–	–	4,502	72.9%	Elected on 1st count					New			UFA
Olds	1,790	1,577	–	–	–	–	3,367	74.2%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Peace River	1,331	–	–	–	–	795	2,126	47.7%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Pembina	2,094	–	–	–	–	1,160	3,254	67.7%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Pincher Creek	920	959	–	–	–	–	1,879	79.1%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		Lib
Ponoka	Acclamation														UFA		UFA
Red Deer	2,144	–	2,056	–	–	–	4,200	76.4%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Ribstone	1,672	837	271	–	–	–	2,780	71.7%	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	–	–	–	–	2,588	80.0%	Elected on 1st count						Lib		UFA
St. Paul	1,635	1,653	–	–	–	–	3,288	71.9%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		Lib
Sedgewick	2,265	–	828	–	–	–	3,093	62.6%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Stettler	1,934	761	1,147	–	–	–	3,842	70.7%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Stony Plain	1,406	1,247	–	–	–	–	2,653	69.2%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Sturgeon	2,556	1,129	–	–	–	–	3,685	63.0%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Taber	1,848	–	–	–	–	1,516	3,364	72.2%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Vegreville	2,364	1,757	–	–	–	–	4,121	72.9%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Vermilion	2,551	815	–	–	–	–	3,366	62.3%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Victoria	1,588	1,522	–	–	–	47	3,157	77.0%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Wainwright	1,446	650	–	–	–	1,005	3,101	74.9%	1,564	–	–	–	1,254		UFA		UFA
Warner	1,342	709	–	–	–	–	2,051	70.7%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA
Wetaskiwin	1,417	1,713	–	–	–	–	3,130	77.5%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		Lib
Whitford	1,799	766	–	–	–	47	2,612	59.8%	Elected on 1st count						UFA		UFA

Template:Color box = Open seat

Template:Color box = turnout is above provincial average

Template:Color box = Candidate was in previous Legislature

Template:Color box = Incumbent had switched allegiance

Template:Color box = Previously incumbent in another riding

Template:Color box = Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

Template:Color box = Incumbency arose from by-election gain

Template:Color box = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

Template:Color box = Multiple candidates

Template:Color box = on judicial recount

Multi-member districts

District	Seats won (in order declared)
Calgary	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |
Edmonton	Template:Canadian party colour |	Template:Canadian party colour |	Template:Canadian party colour |	Template:Canadian party colour |	Template:Canadian party colour |	Template:Canadian party colour |

width=20 Template:Canadian party colour |	UFA
Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal
Template:Canadian party colour |	Conservative
Template:Canadian party colour |	Labour

Template:Color box = Candidate was in previous Legislature

Template:Color box = First-time MLA

Template:Color box = 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<ref name="Albertan2"/>	2,136	2,068	68	Template:Bartable
Calgary	24,417	23,375	1,042	Template:Bartable
Clover Bar	2,896	2,577	319	Template:Bartable
Drumheller	2,698	2,121	577	Template:Bartable
Edmonton	21,189	19,546	1,643	Template:Bartable
Innisfail	2,725	2,509	216	Template:Bartable
Lethbridge	4,639	4,216	423	Template:Bartable
Medicine Hat	3,859	3,411	448	Template:Bartable
Wainwright	3,101	2,818	283	Template:Bartable

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Calgary

Electing six MLAs Template:STV Election box begin2 Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box exhausted

The vote count proceeded in the following order:<ref name="Albertan"/>

• 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					Total
		Conservative	Liberal	Labour	Independent	Communist
Template:Canadian party colour (Irwin)	6	1,631	138	97	150	9	2,031
	0.30%	80.31%	6.79%	4.78%	7.39%	0.44%	100.00%
Template:Canadian party colour (MacKay)	181	386	237	180	123	–	1,107
	16.35%	34.87%	21.41%	16.26%	11.11%	–	100.00%
Template:Canadian party colour (Weir)	466	204	719	–	190	–	1,579
	29.51%	12.92%	45.54%	–	12.03%	–	100.00%

Edmonton

Electing six MLAs Template:STV Election box begin2 Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box candidate2 Canada Template:STV Election box exhausted

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.

Template:Election box ranked choice exhausted no party no change with bar

Initial terminal transfer rates for votes (1930)

Transferred from	Non-transferrable	% transferred to					Total
		Conservative	Liberal	Labour	Independent	Communist
Template:Canadian party colour (Lymburn)	1	73	56	62	8	2	202
	0.50%	36.14%	27.72%	30.69%	3.96%	0.99%	100.00%
Template:Canadian party colour (Tighe)	14	104	53	11	8	1	191
	7.33%	54.45%	27.75%	5.76%	4.19%	0.52%	100.00%
Template:Canadian party colour (Clarke)	20	96	134	124	–	16	390
	5.13%	24.62%	34.36%	31.79%	–	4.10%	100.00%
Template:Canadian party colour (Pelton)	26	68	325	57	–	3	479
	5.43%	14.20%	67.85%	11.90%	–	0.63%	100.00%
Template:Canadian party colour (Lakeman)	264	65	70	382	–	–	781
	33.80%	8.32%	8.96%	48.91%	–	–	100.00%
Template:Canadian party colour (Knott)	39	68	68	714	–	–	889
	4.39%	7.65%	7.65%	80.31%	–	–	100.00%

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Elections Alberta
• Legislative Assembly of Alberta