This coming Tuesday, a couple of hours before the polls close, we will eat pizza in the newsroom at The Day.

Managing Editor Izaskun E. "Sassy" Larrañeta made it official in an email earlier this week that contained assignments, story lengths and deadline details for our live coverage of the municipal elections.

"Let's discuss the most important thing on Election Day — pizza. Yes, there will be pizza ..." she wrote.

Larrañeta was joking, though there is something special about eating pizza together to celebrate election night.

It's an Election Day tradition here and in other newsrooms. Reporters chow on a slice or three before heading out to do their last few interviews, wait for election results and write their stories on deadline. Photographers have pizza before going to campaign headquarters to get live shots of winners, losers and anything else of visual interest. Editors eat pizza as they prepare for the onslaught of stories and numbers that will come their way later that evening.

I discussed The Day's election season coverage with Larrañeta this week and asked her to send me a few sentences for this column.

"For the past two weeks, reporters have been consumed with election coverage," Larrañeta wrote. "Many have covered debates and roundtables, and some have reached out to more than 30 candidates in an effort to write profiles and keep readers informed on where candidates stand on issues that are important to them. Election night will be no different. We will work all day and night, way past when the polls close to let you know who won. We try our best to get the most accurate election tallies, but we always suggest going to the Office of the Secretary of (the) State for official numbers."

With all the drama surrounding presidential and congressional races, it might appear more is at stake for voters in national elections. As a news company covering local government year-round, we recognize how important local races are for the future of our communities.

"I would argue that local elections in many instances are more important than national elections," Larrañeta said. "The person you vote for on Tuesday will have a greater impact on your daily life — from how much taxes you pay; how local services are managed to what kind of education your child is receiving. That's the information our reporters try to get to you, so you can make the best decision for you and your community."

This election season, we've conducted candidate interviews, checked their backgrounds, reviewed campaign finance reports and tax records, written profiles and hosted debates. We've received the usual tips about stolen election signs and other antics.

The editorial page has published dozens of letters to the editor and written endorsements, which were limited this year to contested races for top offices.

We've reserved space for our print edition, asked our printer for an extended deadline and discussed placement of stories on our homepage and social media sites.

By the time the pizza arrives Tuesday, reporters and photographers will have already visited polling places during the day to speak to voters and capture images.

Check our webpage regularly for a live feed of staff tweets from the field.

Reporters will have created story files in our content management system with background from the races they're covering. They'll have written alternative "ledes," or introductory sentences, with alternative election outcomes.

"Candidate X defeated Candidate Y by a wide margin Tuesday," their placeholder lede might say, or "Candidate Y, in an upset victory over Candidate X, was elected Tuesday as the city's next mayor."

When the results are available, reporters will notify editors, gather comments from the candidates and rewrite their stories with suggested headlines.

Once their election stories are filed, editors on the city desk and copy desk will begin editing, posting, laying out and proofing stories.

You can see why that pizza will taste so good.

Karen Florin is The Day's engagement editor. You can reach her at k.florin@theday.com or (860) 701-4217.