HHH Sweeps Harvard Poll Taking 66% to Nixon's 10%

Two-thirds of the students voting in a college-wide straw poll conducted yesterday indicated that, given the chance, they would vote for Hubert Humphrey if they were old enough. Students who said that they would not vote edged out those indicating a preference for Richard Nixon, with about ten per cent of the vote in each category. Nearly 3000 students--about 50 per cent of Harvard-Radcliffe undergraduates--responded to the poll. Eldridge Cleaver, the Peace and Freedom Party candidate, came in fourth with five per cent of the vote, followed by Eugene McCarthy, who received about four per cent. George Wallace placed last among the major candidates, getting 1.7 per cent.

Other assorted candidates and non-candidates including Fred Halstead, Socialist Party Leader; Dick Gregory; Charlene Mitchell, Communist Party candidate; and comedian Pat Paulsen collectively captured more than 4.4 per cent.

The poll, taken in all Harvard and Radcliffe dining halls, showed Nixon's total dwarfed by the combination of the others. The Republican nominee drew his greatest strength from five Houses--Eliot, Winthrop, Quincy, Lowell, and Kirkland. Cleaver's strongest support came from Dudley, Adams and Dunster. He decisively defeated Nixon in the first two.

Humphrey polled the best percentage at the 'Cliffe, where he got over 80 per cent. He fared badly in Dudley, which strengthened its radical reputation by giving him less than 40 per cent. The Democratic nominee also did well among freshman.

The non-voters turned up in droves in Dudley, Adams, and Quincy, while Wallace did well among freshmen and in Winthrop. McCarthy scored well at Radcliffe and in Leverett, Adams, Dudley, and Dunster. Among other candidates, in the over-all vote, Halstead got 33; Gregory, 29; and Mitchell, 25.

The poll results contrast sharply with the 1960 CRIMSON university-wide poll, in which Nixon received 39 per cent of the votes--30 per cent more than this year, while John F. Kennedy '40 got 56 per cent. In 1960 only five per cent did not choose major party candidates, while this year that figure has risen to about 25 per cent. 1960 was the first year in memory that a Democrat received an absolute majority in the poll.

Dunster House, where Nixon got 46 per cent in 1960, gave him less than 10 per cent this year. The ballots collected in the Union revealed a high number favoring Humphrey and Nixon, with relatively few preferring small party and unofficial candidates. Among the Houses, Eliot, Kirkland, and Winthrop favored the major party candidates.

Dudley House was not fully represented on the poll because the only votes counted were cast by those who ate lunch in Lehman Hall yesterday. TOTAL VOTES CAST--2976 Houses  Humphrey  Nixon  No  Cleaver  Wallace  Gene  Others Adams  159  10  35  17  3  9  22 Dudley  60  4  34  22  0  8  11 Dunster  141  20  27  17  5  8  7 Eliot  126  29  13  6  2  5  16 Kirkland  106  18  11  6  2  7  10 Leverett  172  19  11  8  2  11  9 Lowell  99  20  9  4  3  6  11 Quincy  169  31  37  18  5  12  18 Winthrop  83  17  11  6  7  4  5 Union  512  85  56  20  14  20  17 Cliffe  324  24  38  30  7  39  7 TOTAL  1951  277  282  154  50  129  133 Percentages  66  9.3  9.5  5.1  1.7  4.2  4.2

Leading 'Others": Halstead 33; Gregory 29; Mitchell 25; Paulsen 23; also Kennedy, Percy, Lindsay, McGovern, and LBJ

Leading 'Others": Halstead 33; Gregory 29; Mitchell 25; Paulsen 23; also Kennedy, Percy, Lindsay, McGovern, and LBJ