Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2020 number

The study objective is to assess the experience of municipal elections within the frame of the authoritarian political regime in Siberia during the Civil War. To achieve this goal the following tasks were solved: to establish the chronology and scale of electoral processes in the anti-Bolshevik camp, to analyze the organization, progress and results of municipal elections. The research source base includes the records of urban councils, documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs municipal department of the Russian government, and periodicals. There are gaps and discrepancies in numerous sources, and data on elections in different cities are fragmentary. However, a comprehensive approach to the study elections allows us to get closer to understanding electoral processes. The research results reveal that the municipal election campaign in Siberia lasted from early February to mid November in 1919. In other words, the election process was launched during the success of the anti-Bolshevik authoritarian political regime and lasted until its transition to the terminal stage, when the front of the struggle against the Red Army began to collapse. During this period, elections were held in 47 regional cities covering the vast majority of administrative centers of provinces (guberniya), regions (oblast) and counties (uyezd). The deep-rooted urban population of Siberia took an active part in the elections, but mobilized soldiers and officers, refugees and seasonal workers were not permitted voting. The voters turnout at the election amounted approximately 17.0 %. This level was considered low, but sufficient for the election to be recognized as valid. According to the vote results, non-political groups and organizations gained an advantage in the municipal Dumas. Despite the conditions of the Civil War and military dictatorship, the elections were general, equal, secret, direct, competitive ones at the municipal level based on a system of approval voting in multi-mandate districts. These elections ensured the will of citizens and changes of the self-government bodies composition. However, the success of a well-thought-out electoral policy was devalued by its late implementation.