On Nov. 6, Waterford voters will head to the polls in the gyms of three elementary shools and the Town Hall auditorium. They will be greeted by a display of a sample ballot and several smiling poll workers who will check voters’ identification and cross their names off the voter list, direct voters to individual privacy cubicles and a vote tabulator on top of a ballot container box that, to me, looks like a company shredder (it really is not!).

To top off the experience, a smiling poll worker grants every voter a “I Voted” sticker to wear all day.

The registrars of voters completed a preliminary voter registry list by Oct. 2. The polling places were certified to the Secretary of the State by Oct. 5. The deadline for a nominee to withdraw in time for a replacement nominee to be selected was Oct. 12.

An election warning must be published between Oct. 22 and Oct. 31.

Election officials for each polling location include one moderator, two assistant registrars, two official voter checkers, one ballot clerk (hands out the ballots), and one tabulator tender (makes sure you place the ballot in the tabulator and gives you the “I Voted” sticker).

There are also two poll workers handling Election Day registration in Town Hall and one moderator and four to eight counters to count absentee ballots.

Since the polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., the registrars hire some 30 to 40 poll workers each election. These poll workers must undergo specific training for each election no matter how many elections they have worked the polls. In addition, moderators must take a three- to four-hour certification class every two years, and the registrars must be certified and take continuing education every year.

As you can see, it is no longer a “show up on election day” event.

All unregistered citizens are reminded that the last day for mail-in and online voter registration is Oct. 30. The last day for registrars to file with the town clerk a final registry list, which will be available for public inspection, is Oct. 31.

Tabulators are tested with ballots marked in manners specified by the Secretary of State two or three weeks before the election. As each tabulator and the specific program disks are tested, the disks are locked into the tabulator and sealed with double signatures. All steps are carefully recorded by the registrars of voters and deputy registrars, and the tabulators are locked and sealed in their carrying bags. This testing is open to the public, and representatives from the town committees and candidates normally witness some or all the testing.

If town chairpersons or candidates want to have unofficial voter checkers at the polls, they must be designated by Nov. 4. These unofficial checkers report back to the town committee or candidate headquarters who has voted throughout the day.

The day before the election, Nov. 5, the registrars of voters will hold a limited registration session for those whose qualification as to age, residence, or citizenship was attained since Oct. 30. By 8 p.m. on Nov. 5 the registrars provide election materials to each polling location moderator. Tabulators and all furniture and equipment must be delivered not later than one hour prior to the opening of the polling place at 6 a.m. on Election Day, Nov. 6.

For the super procrastinators, there is Election Day voter registration and immediate voting at Town Hall.

I hope this will give you an appreciation of the preparations for the Nov. 6 election and you will get out to vote for the candidates of your choice and the two ballot questions. Please vote on Nov. 6.

John W. “Bill” Sheehan is a former Democratic Town Committee chair in Waterford.