Mathews County voters will be faced with an unusual situation this fall.

On the upcoming Nov. 7 ballot, voters will be asked to select two candidates to serve four-year terms on the Mathews County School Board. On another part of the same ballot, they will be asked to choose a third school board member in a separate special election to fill a two-year vacancy.

The reason for this odd configuration is due to the resignation of school board member Jen Little, who gave up her seat in December 2016, less than one year into her third term. A month later, the four remaining school board members appointed Melissa Mason on an interim basis for the remainder of 2017.

This means that when potential candidates file their petitions with the registrar’s office, they will have to decide if they wish to seek one of the four-year seats or run in the special election for the two-year seat. All seats on both the Mathews school board and board of supervisors are countywide, at-large seats.

The ...