ABSTRACT
Two major aspects of the new draft Constitution were the expansion of electoral and citizenship rights to all people in the USSR 1 and the establishment of habeas corpus protections for the accused. At the local level, citizens accepted what they deemed useful features of these policies, while core aspects, which threatened local stability, were met with resistance and hostility. Kirovites embraced Stalin’s mandate that democracy be a tool for making local officials accountable for their behavior and failures. They had many suggestions to increase their ability to hold local officeholders accountable and demonstrated their willingness to remove incompetent or corrupt officials during the 1936 local elections, which this chapter discusses. But, Kirovites prized safety and stability, particularly in the countryside where the state was the weakest. As a result, they overwhelmingly rejected the re-enfranchisement of those stripped of their rights and habeas corpus protections. In their place, the inhabitants of the Kirov region proposed counter-suggestions to keep voting restrictions and to make it easier for the police and citizens to apprehend criminals.
