Eight States Require Balloting in Person

Student residents of eight states cannot vote in the coming Presidential elections unless they go back home on November 2. Men from 20 other states cannot vote if they fail to register in their home state before the deadline.

These men need not forfeit their ballot, however, if they wish to establish residence in Massachusetts and can fulfill the minimum state qualifications for voting.

The Cambridge Election Board said last night that any student over 21 who has been in residence at the College for one year under the G.I. Bill or swears that he or she is self-supporting can declare a residency in this state and register for the November elections.

The eight states that do not allow absentee voting are: Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

Residents of the following 20 states must register in person before their local board to be permitted the absentee ballot: Alabama, Connecticut, Deleware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

Few strings are attached to the Massachusetts offer, according to the Commission. The student who votes in Massachusetts pays no state income or property tax and is under no financial obligation to the state other than a minimal $2 poll tax. Upon graduation, a simple declaration of intention to reside elsewhere will be sufficient to give up Massachusetts citizenship.

Within the next few days the CRIMSON will publish a complete list of absentee registration and voting procedures for all states prepared in conjunction with the Harvard American Veterans Committee.

The one drawback to this procedure is that most state laws will require from one to two years of continuous residence before the student can again establish full voting residence in his home state.

Registration and the necessary declaration of residence can be accomplished by appearing in person before the Cambridge Board of Election Commissioners, 362 Green Street near Central Square before the deadline of 10 p.m. Friday. The Commission office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and from 7:00 until 9:00 p.m. every day except Friday when voters will be registered continuously from 8:30 a.m. until the final closing at 10:00 p.m.