The Vitebsk electoral district () was a constituency created for the 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election. The electoral district covered the Vitebsk Governorate. White Russian separatism was a negligible force in the electoral district.
On May 9–10, 1917 the 1st Latgallian Latvian Congress was held, which demanded the separation of Latgale from the Vitebsk governorate and integration with Latvia. In the Latgale region, which had an ethnic Latvian population and would later get annexed to independent Latvia, the Bolsheviks received over 50% of the votes cast. Nevertheless, Latgale had a notably weaker Bolshevik vote than neighbouring Livonia (with 72% Bolshevik vote) and the Latvian Rifles regiment (96% Bolshevik vote), possibly linked to opposition to Bolshevik policies from the Catholic Church and Jewish business sectors. The socio-economic conditions were different in Latgale than other Latvian regions, having a less educated and more religiously oriented population.
Candidates List 1 – Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Candidates of List 11.Petrograd, writer. Gizetti was nominated by the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party;2.Maxim BoldyshBolshoye Pokotino village, Nikolaev Volost, Polotsky Uyezd, Peasant3.Andrius BulotaPetrograd, former member of the 2nd and 3rd State Dumas, member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies4.Yuda NovakovskyPetrograd, member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies5.Iosif RuskulSkinchi village, Mikhailovsky Volost, Lutsinsky Uyezd, Peasant6.Mikhail TsetlinChairman of the Vitebsk Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party7.Daniil VasilevskyRepresenting the peasantry of Polotsky Uyezd. Popular educator. Chairman of Polotsky Uyezd Zemstvo Council.8.Alexander ProkofievVitebsk. Popular educator. Representing the peasants of the Gorodoksky Uyezd, member of the Vitebsk Provincial Executive committee of the Soviet of Peasants Deputies9.Nerses AslanovVitebsk. Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Provincial Soviet of Peasants Deputies10.Grigory KatzenelenbogenRezhitsa. Chairman of the Rezhitsa Soviet of Workers, Soldiers and Peasants Deputies11.Mark LyakhovskyZaprudye village, Staroselskaya Volost, Vitebsky Uyezd. Peasant12.Vasily MoiseevVitebsk. Chairman of the Provincial Soviet of Peasants Deputies
List 2 – Trudovik Popular-Socialist Party
Candidates of List 21.Alexander Zarudny2.Leon Bramson3.Vladimir Karpov4. Mikhail Bogdanov5.6.Alexander Likhnitsky7.Alexander Kyusse-Tyuz8.Alexander Shestov9.Evgeny Alonov10. Vasily Tretyakov11. Mikhail Demidov12.Vasily Stolpovsky13.Pavel Solovyov
List 3 – Kadets
Candidates of List 31.Maxim Vinaver2.3.Emmanuil Dubossarsky4.Olga Nechaeva5.Parfeniy Vasiliev6.Evgeny Senkovsky7.Semyon Burkov8.Alexey Luzgin9.Ivan Abmorshev
List 4 – Latgale Socialist Party of Working People Candidates of List 41.2.Aloizijs Skruls3.Zenons Laizāns4.Francs Vilcāns
List 5 – Bolsheviks
Candidates of List 51.Lev KamenevPetrograd2.Felix DzerzhinskyPetrograd3.Sarkis SarkisyantsVitebsk4.Dvinsk5.Boris PinsonVitebsk6.Velizh7. Vilis ChunchinVitebsk8.Zinovy FilippovskyKolyshki, Vitebsky Uyezd9. Naum LagovierVelizh10.Ivan LitvinDvinsk11.Ephraim Sklyansky5th Army, 12.Nikolai PeskovskyRezhitsa13.Aleksei BadaevPetrograd
List 6 – Bloc of the Vitebsk Belorussian People's Union and the Orthodox Parishes of the Faith of the Polotsk Diocese Candidates of List 61.Georgy Polonsky2.3.Foma Litvinov4.Mikhail Sokolov5.Alexey Sukharev6.Trofim Bavshuto7.Fedor Grigorovich8.Trofim Zaitsev9.Andrei Starovoitov10.Foma Podkhilko
List 7 – Jewish National Electoral Committee
Candidates of List 71.Naphtali Friedman2.3.Julius Brutzkus4.Isaac Berger5.Chaim Grinberg
List 8 – Vitebsk Provincial Union of Land Owners and Society of Old Believers of Vitebsk Governorate
Candidates of List 81.2.Gury Gusakov3.Leonid Kopatsinsky4.Andrey Kovalev5.Andrey Janson6. Varfolomey Saveliev7.Khristian Bigge8. Vatslav Kossov9.Bronislav Mirsky
List 9 – Mensheviks and Bund
Candidates of List 91.Akaki Chkhenkeli2.Raphael Abramovitch3.4.Malka Frumkina-Wichman5.Alexander Matskanov6.7.Vladimir Sivitsky8.Alexander Matskov9.Shmul Chizhevsky10.Pomorov11.Grigory Levin12.Mikhail Podashevsky
List 10 – United Polish Organizations
Candidates of List 101.Eduard von der Ropp2.Henry Dymsha3.4.Konrad Nedzvetsky5.Józef Czesnowicki6.Vikenty Baliul7.Adam Buynitsky8.
List 11 – Socialists-Federalists and Peasants of Latgale Candidates of List 111.2.Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics3.4.Valeriya Seyl'5.Aloīzijs Bojārs6.Nikolay Manuilov7.Pēteris Zalāns8.Doroško Donāts9.Eduards Kozlovskis10.Antons Zvidrins11.Viktors Gabranovs12. Daniels Gabruševs
Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics withdrew his candidature before the election, leaving 11 candidates on the list.
List 12 – Lettish Democrats-Nationalists
Candidates of List 121.Jurijs Pabergs2.Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics3.Ivans Grišāns4.Iosifs Kindzuls5.Petrs Lazdans6.7.Donats Lačkajs-Lače
List 13 – Peasants of Vitebsk Governorate Candidates of List 131.Alexander Lobus2.Nikolay Novikov3.Boris Tyasto (withdrew his candidature - replaced by Ivan Zagulov)4.Yakov Alekseev5.Vladimir Puzynya6.Semyon Gushchenko7.Tit Kovalenok
List 14 – Citizens of the Bolets Volost, Gorodoksky Uyezd Candidates of List 141.Ivan Kuzminsky
Kuzminsky was member of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, peasant from Potashenskaya Volost, Gorodoksky Uyezd.
Results
Vitebsk town In Vitebsk town, the Bolsheviks got 11,875 votes (34.8%), the Jewish National Electoral Committee 5,772 votes (16.9%), the Menshevik-Bund list 3,822 votes (11.3%), the White Russian/Orthodox list 3,058 votes (8.9%), the SRs 3,053 votes (8.9%), the Kadets 2,365 votes (6.9%), the Polish list 2,169 votes (6.4%), the Popular Socialists 958 votes (2.9%), the Lettish Democrats-Nationalists 395 votes (1.1%), the Landowners/Old Believers list 375 votes (1.1%), the peasants' list 197 votes (0.5%), Latgallian Socialist-Federalists 68 votes (0.2%), Latgallian nationalists 20 votes (0.1%) and 12 votes for the Boletsky volost citizens' list.
References