Registration Low in Projects

City election officials said yesterday that people in Cambridge housing projects did not register to vote in numbers comparable to other neighborhoods.

In part, they said, there have been fewer registration events in Cambridge during this presidential campaign than in others.

And, officials said, the one highprofile registration drive earlier in the month at federally subsidized Fresh Pond Apartments Complex in North Cambridge, failed to attract the number of residents organizers hoped for.

Thirty-two Cambridge residents signed up to vote at the registration rally, which featured Ted Kennedy Jr., an activist for the disabled, and Mel King, a former candidate for mayor of Boston, said Cambridge Election Commissioner Sondra Scheir.

"If you were to look at the residence lists, there are hundreds that are not registered in this housing project," Scheir said.

The rally's failure to attract a large porportion of project residents points to the deeper causes of non-voting in North Cambridge, voting experts said.

According to Scheir, project residents feel that they have no influence over the political process.

"They feel left out, that their vote is useless, and they're not signing up in numbers that would make them a [political] force," Scheir said.

Rainbow Coalition volunteer and rally co-organizer Zora Maynard cites a broken connection between the act of voting and improvements in the quality of life.

"Many Americans don't have confidence in the system," she said. "They don't see their lives changing, no matter who's in office--and that's the bottom line."

"A lot of people aren't very excited about the candidates and wonder whether it's going to make a difference no matter who wins," she said.

Fresh Pond residents interviewed agreed with Maynard.

"Politicians get in there, and they don't do what they're supposed to be doing," said one elderly resident, who would not give his name. "They're supposed to help the people more than they do."

One North Cambridge housing project resident, who is registered to vote and also would not give his name, said he was not sure whether he would cast a ballot in the upcoming presidential election. "There definitely isn't a good candidate running. These people turn me off. They're like a couple of school children," he said.

Many who live at Fresh Pond are immigrants and lack U.S. citizenship. According to event volunteers, some are even afraid of putting their names down on any type of list.

Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba '53, an expert on American voting patterns, said that registering to vote is the biggest hurdle keeping people away from the polls.

"Some people vote less because they're less pleased with the choice offered," Verba added. "It is ironic that those who need government most are least likely to participate."

Verba said that polling data which show that people are not attracted to either presidential candidate should mean an especially low level of voter turnout on November 8.