The article is devoted to the study of the policy of the Soviet government in relation to «disenfranchised» - categories of citizens excluded from the electoral process in the 1920–1930s. The focus is on implementing this policy in Alma-Ata, which at that time was the administrative center of the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

The work examines the legal foundations of the institution of “disenfranchised”, their social composition, and mechanisms for identifying and limiting their civil rights. Changes in legislation are analyzed, starting with the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, resolutions and instructions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, as well as subsequent regulations governing electoral rights in the USSR. Particular attention is paid to the process of practical implementation of this policy in Almaty: methods of excluding certain categories of citizens from the voter list, the consequences of these measures for the social and economic situation of the “disenfranchised,” as well as the reaction of the local population.