Getting involved in town politics is easier than one might think. A place to start would be at the March 6 town caucus, an open meeting held to nominate candidates for each vacancy in town government. This year’s caucus will be held at Town Hall, starting at 7 p.m.

Any registered voter can attend town caucus, regardless of party affiliation, and can nominate anyone as a candidate for any open position. Nominees do not have to be present at the meeting. Those in attendance at the caucus vote on the nominations, and the two people receiving the highest number of votes for each opening become the official nominees. The caucus requires a quorum of 25; past participants report that about 50 people usually attend, and the whole process takes less than half an hour.

To have their names appear on the ballot at town election, scheduled for May 4 this year, nominees have 10 days after the caucus to sign the caucus certificate of nomination in the town clerk’s office. But there is another way to get on the ballot. Anyone wanting to run for office who is not nominated at town caucus can get on the ballot by taking out nomination papers, available now in the Town Clerk’s office. Candidates must get signatures on the nomination papers from 29 registered voters, and file the papers with the Town Clerk.

This year’s caucus will be asked to select candidates for 14 open positions. The term for most town positions is three years, except for the positions of moderator and tree warden, for which the term is one year.