I'm running for a position on the Select Board of Millis, Massachusetts. First things first, let's get on the ballot.

I had to ask my town clerk for nomination papers for the position I wanted to run for. In my case, I had to give my name, address, and signature to get the papers. Here's what mine looks like.

This took about 5 minutes, most of which was spent pleasantly chatting with someone else who came into the clerk's office while the clerk carefully copied my name and address onto the nomination papers. With these papers in hand, I can start the real work of getting on the ballot.

Now it's time to meet potential voters.

I need to get 45 signatures from people who are registered to vote in my town. Since the signatures must be from registered voters, it's wise to get some extras, just in case someone's voter registration has lapsed. Sixty votes is recommended. This should be pretty easy. In my case, I plan to bring the papers to the various town sporting events I go to (both my boys play town sports) and ask the families there to sign. My wife and I know all of them well and they are very supportive. This is one of the great things about a small town.

Our fantastic neighbor brought the nomination papers with her to her daughter's basketball game to get signatures from the families there. I haven't had the papers for 12 hours and I'm coming up on 20 signatures. A third of the way there. This is moving faster than I was anticipating.

Some people get hundreds of signatures. This is not a great idea and is an easy way to aggravate your town clerk. They need to verify all of the signers. Anything over 45 valid, verified signatures is a waste of the clerk's time and a waste of the candidate's time to get those signatures. My town clerk made this clear deftly and pleasantly.

I have until April 7 to get the necessary signatures and return the paperwork to the town clerk. They then have until April 21st to certify the papers, most of which consists of verifying that the signatures are for registered voters. Then, I should be on the ballot. I'll post a follow-up once I finish this step.

When you sign to get the nomination papers, you can see who has signed before you. One other person (the incumbent) has already received nomination papers, so I will not be running unopposed. Philosophically, I don't think unopposed elections are good for anyone. It would also be boring without the fight.

I'm curious about the best timing of things. Should I have waited to pick up the nomination paperwork to stay off the radar of other candidates and to see a more complete list of who is running? I'm not sure, but I think getting started earlier probably makes the most sense. I suspect I can always go to the clerk and ask who is running. I don't think it's a secret.

The other thing I'm wondering is when the best time is to return the nomination papers with the signatures. If it's done quickly, it might demonstrate campaigning prowess to my opponents. It might also give the clerk more time to certify the papers, although there's a chance they won't start certifying any of them until April 7th. I think I'll probably get my 60 signatures and then turn the papers in whenever that happens to be.

All my timing questions seem a quick path to overthinking.