Witnesses Tell Hearing Of Miss. Voting Abuses

Four Harvard students and five other witnesses with first hand Mississippi voter registration experience gave sworn depositions at a special hearing in the State House today concerning the hardships suffered by Negroes attempting to vote in that state.

The session, part of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party's drive to unseat Mississippi's five congressmen, was held to gather evidence of racial discrimination in voter registration.

The testimony, along with other depositions obtained at hearings held today in ten other cities, will be presented to the House Subcommittee on Elections and Privileges, which will recommend whether the Mississippi Congressional elections were valid. The MFDP claims the election was illegal because of voter discrimination.

The picture that emerged at the State House yesterday from connecting the dots between the numerous incidents cited was one of systematic institutionalized repression of attempts by Mississippi Negroes to gain the franchise.

Harvard Students Testify

Peter Orris '67, Morton P. Thomas '66, Claude L. Weaver '65, and Robert E. Wright '65 related incidents of discrimination, harassment, threats, and beatings incurred during their experience as civil rights workers in Mississippi.

The MFDP maneuvers began Jan. 4, the first day of the 88th Congress, when the party's lobbyists managed to force a roll-call vote on the question of seating the Mississippi congressmen. The five were seated by a 276-148 vote, but the door was left open for the MFDP to pursue its challenge.

Under law, the MFDP has 40 days to gather testimony supporting its case, and this was the purpose of today's hearing before a notary public.

After the MFDP has had its 40 days, the congressmen from Mississippi have the same right to 40 additional days.