Disfranchisement and restoration of voting rights of Orthodox clergymen in Western Siberia in the mid-1920s - mid-1930s

Disfranchisement existing in Soviet Russia from 1918 to 1936 created an artificial marginal group that included ministers of the church. Instructions on elections to the Soviets issued throughout the 1920s differently interpreted the term "servants of a religious cult". At the end of 1920s, this category included not only priests, but also psalmists, singers and even the operating personnel of the church. The aim of the article is to identify the specific situation of this group of disenfranchised persons, as well as to consider problems associated with the restoration of the clergy in the voting rights. The work is based on the materials of private cases stored in Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Barnaul archives. Demographic and socio-cultural characteristics of the studied groups were analyzed using a created electronic database. We concluded that literate older men predominated among clergymen. They were peasant by birth, and service in the church was not their primary and permanent occupation. Arguments and tactics used by disfranchised clergymen in the fight for restoration are considered by using their applications to election committees of different levels. One popular tactic is the denial of belonging to the "servants of a religious cult". Acolytes called themselves "amateurs of singing" and denied receiving monetary compensation. Formally, a five-year working experience and loyalty to the Soviet power were necessary to restore the voting rights. About a quarter of the clergymen managed to achieve positive decisions of election committees. Petitions of urban clergy were more successful, while in rural areas the situation was more complex. First, it was difficult to find a job for a five-year seniority in the countryside. Second, rural clergy were often deprived of electoral rights for several reasons, such as "exploitation of wage labor" and "exploitation of farm machinery". In addition, part of them were already exiled in the beginning of the 1930s, and in the case of restoration of civil rights they were supposed to have their confiscated property back, which the authorities sought to avoid. Thus, clergymen were discriminated after disfranchisement on a par with priests. Disfranchisement of clergymen and priests was one of the measures of the authorities against the Orthodox Church. This measure suppressed the activity of the Church, deprived it of social support and the devotion of the traditional groups of society.

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