On a brilliant blue and gold day, the third Monday in October, about 20 men and women gather at the foot of an auditorium in a former 1920s elementary school converted into Westport City Hall. Their right hands are raised as they are sworn in as election officials for the first day of the 13 days of early voting preceding Election Day.

We are greeters, floaters, poll monitors, computer operators, verifiers and ballot scanners, supervised by a Deputy Registrar and Monitor. We were all trained in a protocol of finely tuned checks and balances and prepared to guide small-town voters through the early voting process for the first time ever in Connecticut.