SENIOR ELECTIONS

Some explanation other than the too easy one of undergraduate inertia must be found for the fact that fewer than one-half the men eligible voted in the Senior elections held last Wednesday. Granted that the present generation at Harvard has putgrown any yearning for strenuous political activity, there has nevertheless existed, even in recent year, much more interest in the choosing of class-officers than was manifested by the Class of 1930. The chief reason for the slight vote is rather to be found in the range of polling places and of time for voting. There are two alternatives either of which would increase the vote appreciably: the use of post-card ballots, or the extension of voting hours and the pumlier of polling places.

The former is the logical-method of reaching every voter; but it has opposed to it the extra time required, a slight additional expense, and the important matter of intelligent voting, which is doubtless aided by the presence of candidates photographs at a more accessible place than in the Red Books in the rooms of 600 Seniors. In any case, this method deserves trial, though it is probably too late for the present committee to employ it.

The lengthening of voting hours and the increase of the number of places for balloting are, however, immediately practicable. In addition to Sever, Pierce, and Harvard Halls, Mallinckrodt and Widener suggest themselves as likely to be visited by eligible voters. The extension of time for balloting is quite as important. The afternoon hours are best adapted to Mallinckrodt and Widener, the morning to the others. Voting on two successive flays is a workable solution of this problem. The necessity for more supervisors can easily be met by increasing the membership of the Junior Polls Committees; and the result can hardly, fall to be a substantial enlargement of the total vote cast.