Democrats to Select Delegates; Not Many Students Registered

Today is the final day for students to register to vote if they plan to participate in the first step in the selection of delegates to the Democratic Party's first mid-term convention.

Registered Cambridge Democrats of the Sixth Ward, of which Harvard dorms are a part, will caucus tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Cambridge Community Center. They will choose six delegates from the ward to go to the Eighth Congressional District Caucus on June 1.

Voters from the seventh and eighth wards will also caucus tomorrow at Phillips Brooks House to select their delegates to the district caucus.

The district caucus will choose four delegates from the congressional district to attend the National Conference on Democratic Party Organization and Policy in Kansas City, Mo., this December. A total of 62 delegates from Massachusetts will attend the conference.

Adopting a Charter

The Democratic National Committee called the conference, authorized by the 1972 convention, in order to adopt a permanent charter for the party. If the delegates adopt such a charter, it will be subject to review at the 1976 convention.

Only registered Democrats are eligible to vote and to run as delegates. Few Harvard students have registered to vote in Cambridge, so few will be eligible to participate in local caucuses.

Although Cambridge Election Commission officials could not estimate the number of registered Harvard students, Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, said yesterday that only about 100 students have attempted to register in the past.

Epps said one explanation for the low number of voters is that students had to show to the commission not only proof of residency but also proof of intention to remain in Cambridge before they were allowed to register.

David E. Sullivan, chairman of the voter registration sub-committee of the Democratic City Committee, said yesterday that most students do not want to register in their college towns.

Sullivan said that the Cambridge Election Commission made student registration difficult because it asked students "fine questions" about personal property and their plans after graduation.

Samp Says

Edward Samp, one of the Cambridge Election Commissioners, said yesterday that the commissioners did not think they made registration difficult.

"We just thought we were carrying out the law," he said.

The Uniform Registration Procedures Law, which the Massachusetts legislature passed last December, states that in order to register to vote, a person must complete an affadavit giving name, address, date of birth, previous residence, occupation, and current home residence.

The law will go into effect on June 1