Cambridge Voting Commission Rejects 18 Harvard Students for Registration

The Cambridge Election Commission yesterday refused to register 18 Harvard students at a voter registration session at Lehman Hall.

Cambridge Election Commissioner Edward J. Samp said that the reason for most of the rejections was the students' inability to prove that Cambridge was their home and not just a temporary residence.

When asked by students what documents would prove that Cambridge is their home, Samp said that a Massachusetts driver's license with a Cambridge address is acceptable in most cases.

The rejections of the 18 students are subject to a final appeal before the entire Commission.

David Sullivan and James Galbraith '74, representatives of the Cambridge Committee for Voter Registration, said yesterday that the Committee is planning legal action on behalf of some of the students if their appeals are rejected.

Not In Line

Samp said that prospective voters must prove three things to register: that they are 18 or older, that they have been a physical resident of Cambridge for at least 30 days prior to the election (in this case November 6), and that Cambridge is their home.

Yesterday's session was the third in a series of four student voter registrations at Harvard and MIT. Twenty-seven Harvard students, mostly graduate students, were registered between 5 and 7:30 p.m. Another 18, all graduate students, were registered Monday at Harkness Commons.