1920 Ballaarat by-election explained

Country:Victoria
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Election Date:10 July 1920
Vote Type:Popular
Image1:David Charles McGrath - Richard & Co (cropped).jpg
Candidate1:Charles McGrath
Party1:Australian Labor Party
Popular Vote1:15,058
Percentage1:51.7%
Swing1:1.7pp
Candidate2:Edwin Kerby
Party2:Nationalist Party (Australia)
Popular Vote2:11,443
Percentage2:39.3%
Swing2:10.7pp
MP
Before Election:Charles McGrath
Before Party:Australian Labor Party
After Election:Charles McGrath
After Party:Australian Labor Party
Election Name:1920 Ballaarat by-election
1Blank:TPP
1Data1:56.1%
1Data2:45.9%
2Blank:TPP swing
2Data1:6.1pp
2Data2:6.1pp

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Ballaarat on 10 July 1920.

At the 1919 federal election, Nationalist candidate Edwin Kerby had defeated the sitting Labor MP, Charles McGrath, by a single vote, the narrowest margin in Australian electoral history. McGrath challenged the result successfully on the grounds of electoral irregularities, triggering the by-election, at which McGrath was victorious.