Town Election: How to run for office

There are a total of seven open seats in the May 6 election. All terms start immediately after the election, except for the terms of School Committee members, which start on the first business day of July after the election.

• The Select Board is a five-person board with three-year terms; two seats are open. Terms are expiring for board members Don Ludwig and Charles Oliver. Ludwig is running for reelection, but Oliver is not.
• The School Committee is a five-person committee with three-year terms; one seat is open. Committee member Suzie Allen, whose term is expiring, is not running for reelection.
• Harvard Public Library Trustees serve three-year terms on a six-person board; two seats are open. Terms are expiring for Stacie Cassat Green and Marty Green. Stacie is running for reelection; Marty is not.
• Warner Free Lecture Trustees serve three-year terms on a six-person board; two seats are open. Sheila Simollardes’ term is expiring, and she is running for reelection. The second seat is currently vacant.

What to do

Candidates must be Harvard residents and registered voters. To run for office, a candidate must have 35 registered Harvard voters sign nomination papers. Those papers are available now and must be picked up no later than noon on Friday, March 14, at the Town Clerk’s office at Town Hall. (Town Hall is normally closed on Fridays, but will remain open until noon that day for nomination paper pickup.) A candidate can send a designee to pick up the papers; a signed letter from the candidate authorizing the designee is required.

Assistant Town Administrator Nicole Levay-O’Brien advises candidates to get more than 35 signatures in case any of the signatures cannot be certified because the signer is either not a resident or not registered to vote. She said one signature sheet holds 32 signatures; she recommends filling one-and-a-half sheets.

The deadline to turn in nomination papers for candidates who want their names to appear on the ballot is 5 p.m. on March 18. Candidates who miss that deadline could still conduct write-in campaigns.