MORGANTOWN — There were unique circumstances surrounding the 3rd Ward race in Morgantown’s 2019 municipal election.
It appears as if history will repeat itself in 2021.
Zack Cruze became the first write-in candidate elected to city council two years ago after sitting councilor Ryan Wallace announced that he would not serve another term too near Election Day to have his name removed from the ballot.
Cruze was one of three write-in candidates to enter the race following Wallace’s announcement and won easily with 740 votes. Wallace still received 200 votes as he was officially unopposed on the ballot.
Fast-forward two years and the 3rd Ward will once again need a write-in candidate to step forward if it is to select representation through the election process.
Otherwise the choice will fall to city council.
In further parallels to 2019, Cruze, like Wallace, is not seeking reelection due to an upcoming move.
Where the story deviates, however, is that Cruze has said he will vacate his seat prior to the June 30 end of the current council term, meaning council will need to fill the seat regardless.
“There is no formal process in the charter for filling a vacancy. It is up to council to determine how they receive the names of those interested in being appointed,” Morgantown Communications Director Andrew Stacy explained.
The only stipulations are that the appointee must be a registered voter in the ward they will represent and that the position must be filled within 30 days of the vacancy or it will go to a special election no sooner than 90 days and no later than 120 days from the time of the vacancy.
Mayor Ron Dulaney said he is hopeful the timing would work out so that council could simply appoint the winner of the April 27 election.
But as of yet, there are no candidates.
Two individuals filed certificates of announcement in the 3rd Ward race but neither satisfied the requirement to gather 75 nominating signatures from registered voters in the ward.
As of yet there are no write-in candidates on record with the city in any ward. Only official write-in candidates will have their votes counted.
Write-in candidates must file a write-in certificate of announcement with the city clerk’s office no later than April 13.
While their names do not appear on the ballot, the names of official write-in candidates will be posted at the entrance of each polling place and will be available upon voter request from poll workers.
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