Wayland Is Preparing for Four Elections in 2012

Wayland is scheduled to conduct four elections during 2012, and that's assuming there aren't any special elections scheduled later this year.

That, in addition to the Annual Town Meeting in April and any special town meeting scheduled later, means that Town Clerk Lois Toombs has a busy year ahead.

Toombs said that she enjoys the challenge a year like 2012 provides, but she admits that it can take a lot out of poll site workers, voters and yes, even the town clerk. She said 2008 was incredibly busy with a whopping 89.4 percent of Wayland registered voters turning out to vote in that year's presidential election.

But she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it.

For now, she's focused on the March 6 presidential primary and the April 3 annual town election.

She mentioned a few things to keep in mind for the March 6 presidential primary:

• Wednesday, Feb. 15 is the last day to register to vote or change party affiliation for the primary. The town's clerk's office will remain open until 8 p.m. that day for last minute registrations.
• Monday, March 5 at noon is the deadline to submit an absentee ballot for the presidential primary.

When it comes to the April 6 town elections, Toombs offered the following update:

• Tuesday, Feb. 14 is the deadline to submit nomination papers, along with 50 valid signatures, to be included on the ballot for one of the will be considering in April.
• As of 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 9, no one had picked up nomination papers for one three-year term on the Board of Public Works.
• Wednesday, March 14 is the last day to register to vote in the town election.

Toombs said that Wayland precincts were minimally affected by the 2010 Census.

"There were a few streets to clean up," Toombs said, adding that only about 40 addresses changed precincts and those residents were individually informed of the change.

• For all elections, Wayland precincts 1 and 4 vote at the Gymnasium. Wayland precincts 2 and 3 vote at .