MEASURES TO DEPRIVE CITIZENS OF VOTING RIGHTS IN THE

Abstract

The disenfranchisement of citizens was a discriminatory measure targeting certain strata and groups of the population. It began to be applied by the Bolsheviks simultaneously with the establish ment of Soviet power in Russia. Initially introduced as a political tool to suppress and eliminate the so -called “exploiters,” disenfranchisement soon became a key element of the new regime’s social policy. In the early 1920s, legislation in the field of d isenfranchisement was still in formation, and the measure was used mainly as a preventive tool. Its purpose was to protect the new authorities from “undesirable elements” directly opposing the Bolsheviks. The development of legislation in this area was largely local, shaped by the specific political situation of each region. By the 1925 election campaign, there was a noticeable tendency toward liberalizing the legal status of non -proletarian groups, reflected in a decline in the number of individuals depriv ed of voting rights. This article provides specific examples of how local authorities implemented the 1918 Constitution of the RSFSR as the legal basis for disenfranchising dependents, exploitative bais, ministers of worship, and social outcasts—both across the Soviet Union and, in particular, in the Guryev District of the Kazakh ASSR in the 1920s—resulting in the social exclusion of numerous social groups.