The Calm Before the Voters Storm the Polls

It all comes down to this: preparation.

• Inviting as many people as possible to get their voting questions answered before Election Day.
• Organizing the materials — the ballots, the signs, even the little stickers that say "I voted."
• Setting up the signs and the booths and tables the day before the election.
• Making a final check of the town's three polling places to be sure all is in order for Tuesday's voting.

Yes, Town Clerk Susan Duplin says preparation is all important to have the best chance of a smooth, or at least less hectic, Election Day.

The clerk and a helper were doing exactly that, preparing, late Monday afternoon inside a mostly quiet First Church, one of three polling places in Swampscott.

Except for footsteps, the light scrape of a few polling table legs and the rustle of paper being placed on tables the room was still.  

Sixteen hours later, on Tuesday morning, throngs of voters will descend upon the town's polling places, the church, the Middle School and the Senior Center.

It's an exciting day for the town's registered voters, numbering 10,263 at the last count.

It's an exciting day for the nation.

The clerk expects a good many of Swampscott voters to come out and vote on Tuesday. She is estimating an 85 percent turnout.

If the days leading up to the election are any indication, there may be some undecided people right up to the last minute.

The town clerk has heard quite few people say the same thing.

"A lot of people are saying they are not sure who they are going to vote for," she said.

Some voters may not know who they are going to cast their ballots for but the polling places will be prepared for them, ready for receive, secure and count their votes as Swampscott goes to the polls.