 While the date was set and candidates have been filing for the recently vacated Bemidji City Council Ward 4 seat, tonight our Josh Peterson explains why a big change had to be made in Bemidji Special Election. As if recent elections haven't had enough twists and turns, the Bemidji City Council Ward 4 Special Election has had a big change. Last week, Bemidji City officials were notified that the original Special Election date had to be changed from February 14th to March 14th to be in accordance with the state statute regarding absentee voting. The reason that we changed the date was after review by the Secretary of State they informed us that we needed to allow absentee voting a period of time. The city charter doesn't address that piece because of that we have to follow the state law. The date change for the Special Election came as a huge surprise for Bemidji City officials who were looking to fill the Ward 4 seat as soon as possible. Absentee voting will be held here at City Hall. The county typically they would be running that as part of a primary and a general not for special elections for municipalities or townships. There is a possibility that the City Council seat could sit empty for the first five months of 2017. But the change in date is to make sure that everyone has a chance to vote. It's really important to have this process to allow the residents that live in Ward 4 to select their representative. Currently five candidates have filed to run for the Ward 4 seat, however if one of the candidates gets more than 50 percent of the vote on March 14th, the election is over. If not, the top two candidates will face off in another election that will be held Tuesday, May 2nd. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. Looking for the special election will close Monday, January 23rd. If you have any questions on the election and would like information on voting absentee, we've posted a link on our website at lptv.org slash news. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.