When election filing closed at noon Friday, July 21, only two people had signed up for three open seats on the board, leading the Jackson County Board of Elections to extend the deadline to noon Friday, July 28. On July 26, incumbent Danell Moses signed up to run, rounding out the candidate list.

It’s not unusual for extended signup periods to be necessary, especially for smaller municipalities like Webster. The town has only 262 registered voters within its limits.

Of the nine races in the county’s 2017 municipal elections — the number excludes Highlands, which is mostly in Macon County — only three will be contested. Mayor Lynda Sossamon will run against challenger Danny Allen for a two-year term as Sylva’s mayor. In Dillsboro, seven people will run for five seats on the town board; in Forest Hills, three people will run for two seats on the town council. Both the Dillsboro and Forest Hills seats are for four-year terms.

To vote in the Nov. 7 election, voters must register by Oct. 13. Absentee voting is Oct. 6-31 and early voting is Oct. 19-Nov. 4.

Correction: In the July 26 issue of The Smoky Mountain News, the article “Election signups extended in Jackson” on page 7 incorrectly stated that the extension applied to all races in Jackson County. The extension in fact applied only to Webster Town Council. SMN regrets the error.