One of the people taking a seat on the Pantego Board of Commissioners in December likely will be a write-in candidate, according to Beaufort County elections officials.

The Aug. 3 death of Robert Edwards, who was a member of the current board, resulted in the filing period for candidates for that board being extended for five working days, from Aug. 5 to Aug. 12, but no one filed.

Pantego Mayor Stuart Ricks and the remaining four members of the Pantego Board of Commissioners — Chad Keech, Mart Benson, Chuck Williams and Reid Michael Gelderman — have filed for re-election. The mayor and commissioners serve two-year terms.

During its meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Beaufort County Board of Elections decided not to reopen the filing period again, which is allowed under state law. Elections Director Kellie Harris Hopkins said Tuesday morning she would recommend the board not extend the filing period.

By not extending the filing, the board opens the door for write-in candidates to compete for a seat on the Pantego board, Hopkins noted.

For a write-in candidate to take office, he or she must meet all eligibility requirements for that office. In this case, that means qualified write-in candidates must come from the 113 registered voters (as of Tuesday) in Pantego, according to Hopkins.

The person with the highest number of write in votes will earn a seat on the board, according to Anita Bullock Branch, deputy director of the Beaufort County Board of Elections. Should two or more people receive the same number of write-in votes, a random drawing will determine who wins the seat on the board, Branch noted.

The manner of the random drawing and who conducts the random drawing will be determined later, according to Branch, who said the drawing could be conducted when the elections board canvasses votes after the Nov. 3 general election.

A similar situation occurred in 2013 when Washington Park Commissioner Don L. Wilkinson Sr. died after filing for re-election. When the filing period for that race was extended, Wade Dale and Christie Potts filed. Dale was elected to the board.

General Statute 163-294.4 (b), in part, reads: “If at any time the filing period closes only two persons have filed notice of candidacy for election to single office or only as many persons have filed notices of candidacy for group offices as there are offices to be filled, and thereafter one of the candidates dies before the election and before the ballots are printed, the board of elections shall, upon notification of the death, immediately reopen the filing period for an additional five days during which time additional candidates shall be permitted to file for election.”

Oct. 2 is the beginning of absentee voting by mail for the Nov. 3 elections. Oct. 9 is the voter registration deadline for the Nov. 3 elections. Early voting for the Nov. 3 elections begins Oct. 22 and ends Oct. 31. Oct. 27 is the last day to request an absentee ballot.