Harvard Students Go To Polls In Record Cambridge Turnout

Cambridge's largest precinct, where all freshmen and most River House residents vote, reported a record 1400 votes last night, as more than 75 per cent of its registered voters cast their ballots at the city's fire department.

More than 50 per cent of voters in this precinct are students from Harvard and Lesley colleges.

"I have been working in this precinct for 30 years and never before have I seen such an incredible turnout," Althea Merchant, the warden of Precinct 3 in Ward 6, said yesterday. Merchant said she attributed the turnout "to the great publicity that the candidates have received and more significantly, the clear-cut distinctions that distinguish the candidates on so many of the issues."

At this precinct and other polling places in Cambridge, most students said they were casting a vote against one of the candidates.

"I felt that Carter had to be removed from the White House," George Biddle '84, said yesterday, adding, "Most people are afraid to vote for Reagan because of his defense policy, but I can't excuse Carter for the way he has reduced the prestige of our country in the eyes of foreign countries."

John Finney '82, like many student voters interviewed yesterday, changed his mind in the booth. "I had told all my friends to vote their conscience, and I was set to vote for Anderson, but in there I realized that the only really effective choice must be to vote for Carter in order to help keep Reagan out--I was forced to choose the lesser of two evils," he said.

Cambridge voters interviewed appeared generally to oppose Proposition 2 1/2 because they feared a reduction of community services would result. "If the proposition passes I fear that police and other emergency services cannot be maintained as they should be," one voter said.