Police Dept. Holds Up Investigation of Voters

An investigation of 950 "conditionally registered" voters ordered by the Cambridge City Council two weeks ago has yet to get underway, it was learned yesterday. Many of the 950 are graduate students or instructors at Harvard and M.I.T., whose status as Cambridge residents has been the subject of debate in the past.

At its October 15 meeting, the City Council instructed the City Manager to have the Chief of Police investigate "all people registered to vote by the Cambridge Election Commission who were not listed by the Cambridge Police Department during the 1962 census."

But Edward J. Samp, Jr., a member of the Election Commission, said yesterday that he has seen "no evidence" that the City Manager, John J. Curry '19, has ordered, or that the Police Department has in fact undertaken, such an investigation.

When questioned about the investigation on Monday, Daniel J. Brennan, Chief of Police, said he had nothing to report, and suggested that anyone interested contact the Election Commission.

A spot check of about 30 names on the list of 950 has so far turned up only one person who is not qualified to vote, Samp said. The Election Commission conducts a sample check every year, but to investigate each of the names on the list would be beyond its resources.

The list of "conditionally registered" voters consists of individuals whose names did not appear on the Police Department's tabulation of city residents, but who were enrolled as voters by attesting to their residence in Cambridge before the Election Commission, Samp explained.

Many graduate students at the University and at M.I.T. are included in this category, because in practice the Police Department does not cover College and graduate dormitories when making up the census lists.

Question of Domicile

The right to vote depends on more than just residence in the city, however. "I have yet to find a conditionally registered person who was not physically present at the address given," Samp said. The question the Election Commission must decide is whether a person's residence actually constitutes domicile, he explained.

Samp said that a police investigation could only determine the fact of physical presence at an address. To ascertain domicile the Election Commission also considers such factors as--in the case of students--whether they have a residence in another state, whether they intend to remain in Cambridge after receiving their degree, and whether they are partially or wholly self-supporting.

The Election Commission, two Democrats and two Republicans, is required by statue to "prepare and maintain an accurate voting list." How this is actually done is pretty much up to the Commission.

Voting Requirements Lenient

In practice, the Commission tries to give voters the benefit of the doubt. As Thomas J. Hartnett, executive secretary of the Commission, explained, "I'm trying to get people on the voting list, not off it." He said that in his opinion the only real concern should be to make sure that people do not vote twice by obtaining an absentee ballot from another state in which they have a residence. Hartnett did not see much point in a careful name-by-name check of the voting lists.