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1931 Quebec general election

← 1927 August 24, 1931 1935 →
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90 seats in the 18th Legislative Assembly of Quebec 46 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Camillien Houde Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 1920 1929 Leader's seat Montmorency Ran in Montréal–Saint-Jacques (defeated) Last election 74 seats, 59.33% 9 seats, 34.31% Seats won 79 11 Seat change 5 2 Percentage 54.88% 43.54% Swing 4.45pp 9.23pp
Premier before election Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Liberal Premier after election Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Liberal

The 1931 Quebec general election was held on August 24, 1931, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Camillien Houde.

It was the third general election victory in a row for Taschereau, who had held office since 1920.

Redistribution of ridings

An Act passed in 1930 increased the number of MLAs from 85 to 90 through the following changes:

1. formed from parts of Hull
2. formed from part of Champlain
3. formed from part of Témiscouata
4. formed from parts of Lac-Saint-Jean

Campaign

The Liberals and Conservatives contested all 90 ridings, with 74 being two-way contests, and the remainder were three-way affairs.

Aftermath

The Conservatives initiated proceedings to attempt to quash up to 63 of the Liberal wins. In one of the hearings, Houde confessed that he had personally furnished $60,000 towards the effort, but did not disclose where he had gotten the funds from. In response, the Taschereau government passed the "Dillon Act", which retroactively amended the laws governing the contesting of controverted elections, thus effectively gutting the ongoing actions. When the Union Nationale subsequently gained power after the 1936 election, one of its first measures was to repeal this Act and restore the law to what it was before its passage.

Results

This was the last election in which a candidate campaigned in multiple ridings. Camillien Houde was nominated in both Montréal–Saint-Jacques and Montréal–Sainte-Marie, and he lost both contests.

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (1931)

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1927	1931	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Government candidates
	█ Liberal	Louis-Alexandre Taschereau	90	74	79	5	268,732	80,045	54.88	4.46
	█ Independent	–	2	–	–	–	2,787	1,422	0.57	0.14
	█ Conservative	–	1	–	–	–	711	New	0.15	New
	Opposition candidates
	█ Conservative	Camillien Houde	90	9	11	2	213,223	104,118	43.54	9.23
	█ Labour	–	2	1	–	1	1,683	2,749	0.34	1.05
	█ Independent	–	1	–	–	–	106	2,579	0.02	0.82
	Other candidates
	█ Independent-Liberal	–	2	1	–	1	1,065	8,280	0.22	2.72
	█ Independent-Conservative	–	4	–	–	–	584	New	0.12	New
	█ Labour	–	2	–	–	–	481	1,861	0.10	0.64
	█ Independent	–	2	–	–	–	323	New	0.06	New
Total			196	85	90		489,695		100%
Rejected ballots							4,190	1,347
Voter turnout							493,885	173,081	77.01	14.10
Registered electors (contested ridings only)							641,324	131,389
Candidates returned by acclamation					–	12

Synopsis of results

1. including spoilt ballots
2. ^ Camillien Houde stood for reelection in Montréal–Sainte-Marie, and also campaigned in Montreal–Saint-Jacques

  = open seat

  = turnout is above provincial average

  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature

  = incumbent had switched allegiance

  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

  = incumbency arose from byelection gain

  = previously incumbent in another riding

  = other incumbents renominated

  = multiple candidates

Analysis

None of the third parties achieved a 1st- or 2nd-place result.

See also

• List of Quebec premiers
• Politics of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• List of Quebec political parties
• 18th Legislative Assembly of Quebec

Further reading

• The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1932. Toronto: The Annual Review Company. 1933.

References

1. An Act to amend the Revised Statutes, 1925, respecting the creation of new electoral districts, S.Q. 1930, c. 15.
2. ^ Drouilly, Pierre (November 7, 2017). "Élections québécoises de 1931". donneesquebec.ca. Atlas des élections au Québec.
3. ^ Cdn Ann Rev 1932 1933, p. 169.
4. An Act to amend the Quebec Controverted Elections Act, S.Q. 1931-32, c. 20
5. Cdn Ann Rev 1932 1933, pp. 171–172.
6. An Act to repeal the Act 22 George V, chapter 20, commonly known as the "Dillon Act", S.Q. 1936 (2nd session), c. 9
7. Morin, Jacques Carl (Winter 2008–2009). "A Note on Simultaneous Candidacies in the Québec Legislature" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review. 31 (4): 20–23.
8. ^ "Les membres de l'Assemblée nationale par circonscription" [National Assembly members by riding] (in French). National Assembly of Quebec. Retrieved September 13, 2023.

v t e Elections and referendums in Quebec
General elections	1867 1871 1875 1878 1881 1886 1890 1892 1897 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1919 1923 1927 1931 1935 1936 1939 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1962 1966 1970 1973 1976 1981 1985 1989 1994 1998 2003 2007 2008 2012 2014 2018 2022 44th
Municipal elections	1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1983 1985 1986 1987 1989 1990 1993 1994 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
Referendums	1919 1980 1992 1995 2004
See also: List of Quebec by-elections

• 1931 elections in Canada
• Elections in Quebec
• 1931 in Quebec
• August 1931 events in Canada