The death of Robert Edwards, a member of the Pantego Board of Commissioners, reopens the filing period for candidates for that board.

The filing period reopened at 8 a.m. Wednesday. It closes at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11.

A similar situation occurred in 2013 when Washington Park Commissioner Don L. Wilkinson Sr. died after filing for re-election.

“The Beaufort County Board of Elections was notified Monday, August 3rd, of the passing of Robert Edwards, candidate for Town of Pantego Commissioner. General Statute § 163-294.4 (b) dictates that if a candidate death causes the number of candidates to fall below the number of seats open for election, then the Board is to reopen the filing period for that particular contest. In this case, four candidates remain with five seats open,” wrote Kellie Harris Hopkins, Beaufort County’s elections director, in an email.

The special filing period is for the Pantego Board of Commissioners, not that town’s mayoral race or any other municipal elections in the county, according to Hopkins.

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.”