The practice of discriminatory measures in the form of deprivation of electoral rights for the use of hired labor in the North Caucasus in 1921 -1936 (on the materials of Karachai)

The article highlights such kind of social discrimination as disenfranchisement, practiced in the first years of Soviet rule (1921-1936). This work is based on the materials related to the former Karachai Autonomous Region and on the documents of the State Archive of the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia. A substantial portion of the used materials are introduced into the scientific circulation for the first time. In this study, the author draws attention to the practice of disenfranchisement in respect of persons who have used hired labor. This measure of social discrimination was widely used in the North Caucasus, and at the same time it was not fully reflected in the legal regulations and instructions for the election commissions, what caused a lot of collisions in the course of its on-site implementation. The article analyzes the specifics of this type of repression; address the issues related to the attempts of the "disenfranchised" to defend their rights, the progress of election campaigns, the policies of central and regional authorities in this field, the dynamics of disenfranchisement use in the North Caucasus region of Karachai.