Potential candidates weren't exactly beating down the doors Monday to file for town office elections in Bladen County.

Incumbent Elizabethtown Mayor Kenneth Kornegay and Elizabethtown Town Councilman Richard "Dicky" Glenn threw their hats in the ring Monday morning.

At noon, they were still the only candidates who had signed up for any of Bladen's municipal races.

Residents of Elizabethtown, Clarkton, Bladenboro, Dublin, East Arcadia, Tar Heel and White Lake will be electing town officials.

Filing was scheduled for July 4 at noon, but was delayed due to the holiday.

Municipal elections are generally held in off-years, to ease congestion and prevent influence on local elections by state and national office. Municipal races are considered non-partisan.

As such, municipal elections are often disregarded by some voters. In the 2001 municipal elections in Bladen County, fewer than one-quarter of the county's eligible voters turned out to cast a ballot.

Election day in Elizabethtown is Oct. 7. If a runoff is needed, it will be held Nov. 4.

Other towns' races will be held Nov. 4. All races except those in Elizabethtown are decided by a simple plurality.

Voter registration for Elizabethtown ends in Sept. 12, and Oct. 10 elsewhere. Absentee voting begins Sept. 7 for Elizabethtown, and ends Sept. 30, with One Stop Absentee Voting between Sept. 18-Oct. 4.

Absentee voting in the rest of the county runs Oct. 5-28, with One Stop Absentee voting between Oct. 16-Nov. 1.

The filing fee for all mayoral and town council races is $5. All filing for office takes place at the county board of elections office at 301 Cypress St., Elizabethtown.

--30-