Next Tuesday isn’t just any old Tuesday, but one of the biggest days in the presidential primary race. It is known as Super Tuesday because ten states hold either a primary or caucus that day. Since Massachusetts is one of them, Duxbury Town Clerk Nancy Oates is hard at work preparing her office for what she expects to be a respectable turnout.

“If voters are unenrolled, they have a choice of (Democratic, green or Republican) ballots, but they have to choose,” said Oates. “The nice part is after they do that, they go back to being unenrolled.” Oates was quick to add that for those who’ve already registered with a party, they must vote that party’s ballot.

The polls are located at the Duxbury Middle School’s T. Waldo Herrick gym and will open on Tuesday, March 6 at 7 a.m. and stay open until 8 p.m. Though it’s always difficult to predict turnout, Oates said that of Duxbury’s 15,384 residents, 10,996 are registered voters – a considerable figure that should keep Oates and her team of volunteers busy.

And in a presidential election year, she’s quite busy. The President’s holiday gave Oates the opportunity to take the ballot machines from storage and begin charging them in her office. Also ready are the ballots that arrived from the Secretary of State’s office and the voting list Oates has checked twice.

Though the Clerk’s office is due to close at noon on the Monday before the election, Oates said she will stay behind to help residents with their day-to-day issues while Assistant Town Clerk Susan Kelly helps set up the gym. The one thing she can’t do is register latecomers.

“The deadline to register to vote was February 15,” said Oates. “There’s still time to register for the general election. The last day to register for the presidential election is October 17 and we’ll be open from eight until eight.”

There are exceptions,  and having been Town Clerk for 29 years, Oates knows most of them.

“If you turned 18 after February 15, just come right along to the election and I’ll write you in so you can vote,” said Oates. “That, of course, would also apply to other elections.”