1920 Ballaarat by-election

{{Use Australian English|date=April 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1920 Ballaarat by-election

| country = Victoria

| type = parliamentary

| ongoing = no

| election_date = 10 July 1920

| previous_election = 1919 Australian federal election

| previous_year = 1919

| next_election = 1922 Australian federal election

| next_year = 1922

| vote_type = Primary

| seats_for_election = Division of Ballaarat in the House of Representatives

| turnout = 76.7% ({{decrease}} 5.8)

| image1 = {{CSS image crop|Image = David Charles McGrath - Richard & Co (cropped).jpg|bSize = 125|cWidth = 120|cHeight = 160|oTop = 1|oLeft = 4}}

| candidate1 = Charles McGrath

| party1 = Australian Labor Party

| popular_vote1 = 15,058

| percentage1 = 51.7%

| swing1 = {{increase}}1.7pp

| image2 = {{CSS image crop|Image = Edwin Kerby.png|bSize = 125|cWidth = 120|cHeight = 160|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}

| candidate2 = Edwin Kerby

| party2 = Nationalist Party (Australia)

| popular_vote2 = 11,443

| percentage2 = 39.3%

| swing2 = {{decrease}} 10.7

| 1blank = TPP

| 1data1 = 56.1%

| 1data2 = 43.9%

| 2blank = TPP swing

| 2data1 = {{increase}} 6.1

| 2data2 = {{decrease}} 6.1

| title = MP

| before_election = Edwin Kerby

| before_party = Nationalist Party (Australia)

| after_election = Charles McGrath

| after_party = Australian Labor Party

}}

The 1920 Ballaarat by-election was held on 10 July 1920 to elect the member for Ballaarat in the Australian House of Representatives.{{cite web |title=BALLARAT BY-ELECTION |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45540498 |publisher=Barrier Miner |access-date=23 May 2025 |page=2 |date=8 July 1920}}{{cite web |title=Labor majority increases |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/73176654 |publisher=The Horsham Times |access-date=23 May 2025 |page=5 |date=16 July 1920}}

At the 1919 federal election, Nationalist candidate Edwin Kerby defeated the sitting Labor MP Charles McGrath by a single vote, the narrowest margin in Australian electoral history.{{cite web |last1=Rhodes |first1=Campbell |title=Eight by-elections that changed the game |url=https://www.moadoph.gov.au/explore/stories/democracy/eight-by-elections-that-changed-the-game |publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House |access-date=23 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250428071541/https://moadoph.gov.au/explore/stories/democracy/eight-by-elections-that-changed-the-game |archive-date=28 April 2025 |date=1 December 2017}} McGrath challenged the result successfully on the grounds of electoral irregularities, triggering the by-election, at which McGrath was victorious.{{cite web |title=House of Representatives Members – 8th Parliament 1919-1922 |url=https://australianpolitics.com/parliament/house/house-members-1919-1922/ |publisher=AustralianPolitics.com |access-date=23 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250419120051/https://australianpolitics.com/parliament/house/house-members-1919-1922/ |archive-date=19 April 2025}}