The Boston University Daily Free Press reports that the Massachusetts Democratic Party has denounced the efforts by Bart McCauley to keep BU students from voting in last Tuesday’s special election. Party spokeswoman Jane Lane is quoted as saying that "[students] are definitely allowed to vote," and that the party "would oppose any effort to dampen their participation."
It also appears that Mr. McCauley is something of an outcast within his own party, even though his press release is clearly designed to convey the impression that he is speaking for the Ward 22 Democratic Committee. The BU newspaper article quotes Ward 21 Democratic Committee member Charles Doyle, who describes McCauley as a "right-winger" who "wouldn’t let liberals vote if it was up to him." And a comment (by jpdem) on one of our previous posts on this topic, the author of which (judging from the email address) is associated with the Ward 19 Democrats, reports that "Bart was dumped as [Ward] 22 chair many years ago," and expresses "no doubt that few others knew about or participated in this effort, particularly Moran, who had the support of Steve Tolman, not one of Black Bart’s favorites."
So it may well be that Mr. McCauley was acting more or less alone, and that he used his affiliation with the Ward 22 Democratic Committee as cover for his own personal crusade against allowing college students the right to vote. We’re glad the state party has denounced this shameful episode. We hope that the Ward 22 Democratic Committee does the same, and sanctions Mr. McCauley appropriately. Voter intimidation should have no place in American democracy.
