BELLE — The absence of a second declared candidate for the Maries County R-2 Board of Education’s two open seats will result in an election on April 7 to fill both positions.

Superintendent Lenice Basham said on Jan. 5 that all write-in candidates would be accepted during the April 2 election as part of the election process.

“We have to allow all write-ins, we can’t get certified write-ins prior,” she said. “With one candidate and two open seats, there can’t be a declared write-in. So we just have to let anybody be a write-in because we have one applicant.”

The one candidate who filed for one of the two open seats is not given preference.

“You could have two write-ins that have more votes than the candidate on the ballot and they could win the seat(s),” Basham said, but added rules to run for the seat still apply. “Write-in candidates still have to meet qualifications to be on the board.”

The two seats are currently occupied by Kenda Sanders, who has declared her intention to run for office, and Aaron Vandegriff who is not running again.

At the city, contested races for the mayoral seat as well as one Ward 1 and Ward 2 seat have been declared. However, a mayoral seat race is down to two candidates, Mayor Pro Tem/Alderman James (Pudd) Mitchell and contender Tracey Creswell. Ken Stanfield, a former alderman, had declared his intentions to run for the mayoral seat prior to Mitchell on Dec. 26, the final day to file. However, he withdrew his candidacy a week later.

Ward 1 incumbent Alderman Emily Williams has declared to retain the seat against former alderman Jeanette Struemph. The Ward 2 seat has two declared candidates, Terry Connors and former mayor and alderman Steve Vogt.