1930 Alberta general election

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| <- 1926 | June 19, 1930 (1930-06-19) | 1935 ->

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<- outgoing members

members ->

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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 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]

## Beaver River[edit]

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 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.[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 had four more votes than Delisle. Delisle's election was overturned, and Dakin picked up the seat.[5]

## 1930 redistribution of districts[edit]

An Act was passed in 1930 providing for an increase of seats from 60 to 63, upon the next election.[6] Calgary and Edmonton now returned six MLAs each instead of five, and the following other changes were made:

Abolished | New

|

New districts

* Clover Bar[a 1]

* Drumheller[a 2]

* Grande Prairie[a 3]

Merger of districts

* Claresholm
* Nanton

* Nanton-Claresholm

* High River
* Okotoks

* Okotoks-High River

1. ^ from parts of Edmonton, Leduc and Victoria
2. ^ from parts of Bow Valley and Hand Hills
3. ^ from part of Peace River

## Results[edit]

1930 Alberta provincial election[7]

Party  | Party Leader  | # of
candidates  | Seats  | Popular Vote
1926 | Elected | % Change  | #  | %  | % Change
| United Farmers | John E. Brownlee  | 47  | 43  | 39 | -9.3%  | 74,187  | 39.41%  | -0.27%
| Liberal | George Harry Webster | 36  | 7  | 11 | +57.1%  | 46,275  | 24.59%  | -1.58%
| Conservative | David Milwyn Duggan | 18  | 5  | 6 | +20.0%  | 27,954  | 14.85%  | -7.25%
| Labour | Fred J. White | 11  | 5  | 4 | -20.0%  | 14,354  | 7.63%  | -0.16%
| Communist |  | 1  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Independent  | 28  | \-  | 3 |  | 25,449  | 13.52%  | +12.82%
Total | 141 | 61 | 63 | +3.3% | 188,219 | 100%

| Popular vote

|  |
United Farmers |

| 39.41%
Liberal |

| 24.59%
Conservative |

| 14.85%
Labour |

| 7.63%
Others |

| 13.52%

| Seats summary

|  |
United Farmers |

| 61.90%
Liberal |

| 17.46%
Conservative |

| 9.52%
Labour |

| 6.35%
Others |

| 4.76%

## Members elected[edit]

7th Alberta Legislative Assembly

| District  | Member  | Party
| Acadia | Lorne Proudfoot | United Farmers
| Alexandra | Peter Enzenauer | United Farmers
| Athabasca | Frank Falconer | Liberal
| Beaver River | Judicial Recount (see explanation above)
| Bow Valley | John Mackintosh | Independent
| Calgary*  | Hugh Farthing | Conservative
| John J. Bowlen | Liberal
| John Irwin | Conservative
| George Harry Webster | Liberal
| Fred White | Dominion Labor
| Harold McGill | Conservative
| Camrose | Vernor Smith | United Farmers
| Cardston | George Stringam | United Farmers
| Clover Bar | Rudolph Hennig | United Farmers
| Cochrane | Robert Milton McCool | United Farmers
| Coronation | George Johnston | United Farmers
| Cypress | Perren Baker | United Farmers
| Didsbury | Austin Claypool | United Farmers
| Drumheller | Fred Moyer | Independent
| Edmonton*  | John Lymburn | United Farmers
| David Milwyn Duggan | Conservative
| Charles Gibbs | Dominion Labor
| William Howson | Liberal
| Charles Weaver | Conservative
| William Atkinson | Conservative
| Edson | Christopher Pattinson | Dominion Labor
| Empress | William Smith | United Farmers
| Gleichen | John Buckley | United Farmers
| Grande Prairie | Hugh Allen | United Farmers
| Grouard | Leonidas Giroux | Liberal
| Hand Hills | Gordon Forster | United Farmers
| Innisfail | Donald Cameron | United Farmers
| Lac Ste. Anne | Charles McKeen | United Farmers
| Lacombe | Irene Parlby | United Farmers
| Leduc | Arthur Percy Mitchell | Liberal
| Lethbridge | Andrew Smeaton | Dominion Labor
| Little Bow | Oran McPherson | United Farmers
| Macleod | William Shield | United Farmers
| Medicine Hat | Hector Lang | Liberal
| Nanton-Claresholm | Gordon Beverly Walker | United Farmers
| Okotoks-High River | George Hoadley | United Farmers
| Olds | Frank Grisdale | United Farmers
| Peace River | William Bailey | United Farmers
| Pembina | George MacLachlan | United Farmers
| Pincher Creek | Harvey Bossenberry | Liberal
| Ponoka | John Brownlee | United Farmers
| Red Deer | George Wilbert Smith | United Farmers
| Ribstone | William Farquharson | United Farmers
| Rocky Mountain | George Cruickshank | Independent
| Sedgewick | Albert Andrews | United Farmers
| St. Albert | Omer St. Germain | United Farmers
| St. Paul | Joseph Miville Dechene | Liberal
| Stettler | Albert Sanders | United Farmers
| Stony Plain | Donald Macleod | United Farmers
| Sturgeon | Samuel Carson | United Farmers
| Taber | John MacLellan | United Farmers
| Vegreville | Archie Matheson | United Farmers
| Vermilion | Richard Reid | United Farmers
| Victoria | Peter Miskew | United Farmers
| Wainwright | John Love | United Farmers
| Warner | Maurice Conner | United Farmers
| Wetaskiwin | Hugh John Montgomery | Liberal
| Whitford | Isidore Goresky | United Farmers

* Edmonton and Calgary

The six front runners in the First Count in each city 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.[8]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Not including four constituencies where UFA elected by acclamation
2. ^ Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results
3. ^ a b "Beaver River Official Results 1930 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
4. ^ "Alberta Government Now Sure Of 40 Seats". Vol 55 No 304. Manitoba Free Press. June 25, 1930. p. 6.
5. ^ "Recount Gives Libs. Another Alta. Seat". Vol XXIII No 213. The Lethbridge Herald. August 21, 1930. p. 1.
6. ^ The Legislative Assembly Act Amendment Act, 1930, S.A. 1930, c. 14
7. ^ "Alberta provincial election results". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on February 11, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
8. ^ A Report on Alberta Elections, p. 45

## Further reading[edit]

* The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1929–30. Toronto: The Annual Review Company. 1930.

## External links[edit]

* Elections Alberta
* Legislative Assembly of Alberta

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