The City of Poplarville will hold a special election on May 22, to fill a recently vacated seat on the Board of Aldermen.

City Clerk Jane O’Neal said the election is being held to fill the position vacated by Margaret Ann Smith, who resigned from her position with the Poplarville Board of Alderman prior to the April 17 meeting.

The election will take place at City Hall and interested candidates will have to qualify by the close of business, 5 p.m., on May 2, Neal said.

In order to qualify, candidates are required to file a petition with the City Clerk, which should be signed by at least 50 registered voters of the city, she said.

Neal said a public notice regarding the vacancy and subsequent election has been placed in City Hall, Pearl River County Courthouse and Poplarville Public Library, Neal said.

If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the two candidates with the highest number of votes will move to a run-off election expected to take place three weeks after the May 22 election, Neal said.

For more information about the election, contact the City Hall at 601-795-8161. The office is located at 200 Hwy. 26 East, Poplarville.

Mayor Rossie Creel issued the following written statement concerning Smith’s resignation and the need for a special election

“The untimely resignation of Poplarville Alderman Margaret Ann Smith is both unfortunate and disheartening. The voting citizens of Poplarville put her in office with the expectation that she would complete her term. Special elections are both time consuming and costly to taxpayers and require city government to tap into funds that were not budgeted for an election. In my opinion, the remaining members of this administration possess great vision and leadership as we move forward to make Poplarville the very best small town in Mississippi. We all have the utmost integrity, moral character, and ethical value that were guaranteed to citizens during our campaigns. For anyone to suggest otherwise is absurd. I pray those who qualify to run for this open seat possess those same qualities.”