Statesboro City Council, reduced to four district members and the mayor, acted Tuesday to call a special election for the vacant District 1 seat. The election will be held Nov. 5, the same day as the national, state and county general election.

This special election is needed to fill the unexpired term, through 2025, of former Councilman Phil Boyum. After representing District 1 for 12½ years, Boyum is moving away and submitted his resignation with an Aug. 1 effective date, as accepted by the remainder of the council during the July 16 meeting. The council then waited until its first August meeting so that the seat would be officially vacant before calling the election.

The Nov. 5 voting hours will be 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., also the same as Election Day voting in the general election. But only registered voters who are City Council District 1 residents are eligible to vote in Statesboro's special election. 

Candidates for the nonpartisan seat will need to complete paperwork and pay their fee to qualify at City Clerk Leah Harden's office in City Hall, 50 East Main St., between 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20 and 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22.

The qualifying period and fee were stated in the call of election resolution approved Tuesday by a 4-0 vote of current council.

When a council member asked, Harden noted that the minimum required qualifying period for a special election is only two and a half days, not five days as for most regular elections.

The candidate qualifying fee for the seat is $330, which is 3% of the gross salary of a regular Statesboro City Council member for the previous year.

Under the City Charter, citizens qualifying for a council seat must be at least 25 years old and have been a resident of their district, in this case District 1, for at least 12 months immediately preceding the election, and be registered voters.

For would-be voters who aren't already registered or need to update their information, the last day to register to vote before the special election — and also for the Nov. 5 general election — will be Oct. 7.

Unlike candidates who must qualify at City Hall for the special election, voters register at the Bulloch County Board of Elections and Registration office in the County Annex, 113 N. Main St., Suite 201, Statesboro, or online at the statewide My Voter Page, https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ .