1938 Gordon state by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Gordon on 24 September 1938 because the Court of Disputed Returns overturned the result of the 1938 Gordon election. ^[1] Harry Turner had been declared elected by 9 votes over William Milne. Both candidates were endorsed by the United Australia Party. Milne filed a petition which challenged postal and absentee votes. ^[2] Justice Maxwell sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns held that most of the 125 challenged votes did not meet the requirement of the Electoral Act such as not being properly witnessed, and that the election was void. ^[3]

Dates

Date	Event
26 March 1938	1938 Gordon election
18 May 1938	Petition lodged by William Milne. [2]
25 August 1938	Justice Maxwell declared the 1938 Gordon election to be void. [3]
2 September 1938	Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. [4]
9 September 1938	Nominations
24 September 1938	Polling day
6 October 1938	Return of writ

Result

1938 Gordon by-election
Saturday 24 September  ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United Australia	Harry Turner (re-elected)	12,421	59.97
	United Australia	William Milne	8,291	40.03
Total formal votes			20,712	97.96
Informal votes			431	2.04
Turnout			21,143	91.99
	United Australia hold		Swing

See also

• Electoral results for the district of Gordon
• List of New South Wales state by-elections

References

1. Green, Antony. "1938 Gordon by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 18 September 2020.
2. "Supreme Court of NSW: disputed returns jurisdiction". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 76. 20 May 1938. p. 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2020– via Trove.
3. "Gordon poll void". The Sydney Morning Herald . 26 August 1938. p. 12. Retrieved 18 September 2020– via Trove.
4. "Writ of election: Gordon". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 127. 2 September 1938. p. 3437. Retrieved 18 September 2020– via Trove.