Independents Challenge Council Election Result

Three defeated independent candidates for the Cambridge City Council have filed suit in Middlesex Superior Court to overturn the election of a liberal. Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) majority to the Council.

The suit challenges the method the Cambridge Election Commission used to count ballots under Cambridge's unique proportional representation (PR) system.

One of the plaintiffs. Leonard J. Russell, failed in his bid to gain the ninth seat on the Council this week after an official recount.

Francis H. Duehay '55 dean of Admissions and Studies at the Graduate School of Education and a CCA-backed candidate, held on to the ninth seat by 37 votes. Duehay lost seven ballots to Russell in the recount, but he gained two votes which had mistakenly gone to Thomas W. Danehy.

"The opposition couldn't win through the electoral process, so now they are challenging the election process we have used for 30 years." Duehay said yesterday. "They haven't given up yet," he added.

Under PR, voters vote for candidates in order of preference. A quota is determined for election and the ballots of candidates exceeding the quota are parcelled out to the second choice on each ballot.

The suit filed by Russell. William Walsh, and incumbent Thomas Coates maintains that the method of redistribution violates a state law which specifies that every first choice vote for a candidate after he reaches quota go to the number two choice.

Cambridge adopted what is known as the Cincinnati Rule in 1941 specifying that the excess votes be calculated before the count and every third or fourth vote be redistributed to the second choices.

Walsh feels that Cambridge's counting method hurts independents and gives the advantage to slate voting. "Our advantage in slate voting is that we don't lose votes when candidates drop out." David B. Harris, CCA president, said after the election.

Philip M. Cronin '53, City Solicitor, will file a request in Middlesex Superior Court on Tuesday to have the suit thrown out for lack of legitimate grounds. Cronin said that the plaintiffs not only must show that the law was broken but also that the election results would have been substantially different if another method of voting had been used.

The suit could result in another recount or even in a new election. This week's recount, provided free to Russell by the Election Commission, cost the City $4000 and took three days.

Duehay said he was pleased that the recount preserved the CCA majority because the CCA slate is "determined to run the city in such a way that things get done.