Nar Darjee didn’t know what to expect Tuesday.

In one hand, she had a large white envelope with documents in plastic sleeves. She grabbed her passport too and a driver’s license and waited for her ride to the polls.

Outside the City Wide Community Center off Loudon Road, candidates stood on the street corner with campaign signs in hand. Republican candidate Andrew Georgevits asked for a vote to elect him to the State House. The Concerned Citizens of Concord encouraged a yes vote on two charter amendment questions.

It was a lot to take in for someone who had never voted in a U.S. election before. Darjee was primarily focused on registering to vote in her first United States election after leaving Bhutan, immigrating to Concord in 2016 and becoming a citizen last March.

Leading up to the election, partisan politics dominated with stark differences at the top of the ticket along with confusing questions about the autonomy and authority of the Concord School Board and even a constitutional amendment to raise the retirement age of judges. Voters were asked to choose a county sheriff and fill bureaucratic positions like register of probate.

Darjee wasn’t aware of what the ballot would hold, until Ghana Sharma, who is also a member of the Bhutanese community, offered to help.

Just as pathways to citizenship can be complex to navigate in the United States – waiting at least five years to establish lawful residence, passing a crash course test on American history and civics and demonstrating English proficiency – exercising the earned right to vote in a United States election can be fraught with challenges, too.

Sharma would know – he’s helped dozens of newly naturalized citizens in Concord get to the polls, register to vote and cast ballots. The barriers go beyond just English translation for those who are not native speakers. For many immigrants, like Sharma’s Bhutanese community, voting in a free and open election is a foreign concept.

“Until the age of 13, I was in Bhutan, an autocratic system of government, absolute monarchy system,” he said. “People were not allowed to raise their voice.”

Bala Ram Sharma, Ghana’s father, remembers leading his family out of Bhutan in the early 1990s. They surrendered their Bhutanese citizenship papers to the government and crossed through India to a refugee camp in Nepal, which they called home for the next 17 years.

“I left everything in Bhutan,” he said.

After becoming a citizen in 2015, the 85-year-old has voted in three presidential elections in the United States. In Bhutan, he voted for local village leaders, but never had a direct voice in who wielded political power at-large in his home country.

Not only was casting a ballot an unfamiliar experience but understanding the two-party system that drives United States politics and two-sided ballots, with dozens of candidates, required explanation from his son.

“We don’t know anything about it. We have no idea who is and whom to vote,” he said. “In Bhutan there was no party system... One party, that’s Bhutanese.”

To Sharma, voter education is one of the key pieces of welcoming newly naturalized citizens to the community. For years he taught free citizenship classes in Concord, helping many pass the naturalization test. Exercising the right to vote, and learning about local, state and federal branches of government is a natural extension of that, he said.

“Voter education is one of the most important things,” he said. “That should be an ongoing process in the city, especially with newcomers.”

Ahead of the election, Overcomers Refugee Services, a nonprofit that helps refugees settle in Concord, called eligible voters in their community – reminding them that election day was on Nov. 5 and asking if they needed transportation or translation services.

That direct outreach will encourage new citizens to participate, said Sharma. And to take it a step further, ensuring people know what their voting for goes hand in hand.

“Voting means not just coming here and taking the paper inside, crossing it and leaving,” he said. “At least he or she should understand the person they have voted for.”

Oftentimes, he talks to first-time voters after an election only to learn they marked one candidate on a ballot and thought it was complete. Looking forward to local elections next year, ensuring people know the breakdown of power, and candidates, from the mayor to city council and school board will be paramount, he said.

The instant Sharma got out of work on Tuesday afternoon, he was in his car picking up neighbors and community members. He dropped off one car load of people who had previously voted – he knew they knew what to do – and then circled back for Darjee and others.

Inside, he was on standby as Darjee handed over her drivers license and naturalization papers, translating questions when needed.

As people lined up alphabetically by last name to receive their ballot inside, Sharma ushered his group in together – he signed a sworn affidavit to help translate for them, guiding Darjee and others to the make-shift voting booth.

With an “I Voted” sticker, Darjee laughed that her English is “little, little,” but with Sharma’s help, she just voted for the first time. She’d vote again, she said, and hoped that the candidate she voted for, Kamala Harris, would win as she took a seat to wait for her ride home.

“I am happy.”

Michaela Towfighi can be reached at mtowfighi@cmonitor.com