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As filing deadline approaches, some local seats have no contenders
The deadline for candidates to file for more than 1,000 local races on the November ballot is Friday.
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As filing deadline approaches, some local seats have no contenders
With filing deadlines for local political races approaching, some seats don't have any candidates.
As of late Thursday, San Bernardino County had a small handful of seats that no one had filed to run for, according to Melissa Eickman, the county's public information manager. Among them is San Bernardino Community College District, Area 3.
Eickman said about 300 candidates have filed with the county for local seats so far.
In LA County, there are about 90 local races up for grabs on the November ballot. The deadline for candidates to file is Friday. Some races could be dropped from the ballot if no one, or not enough, candidates file, according to California election law.
"We hear a lot about voter registration, voter turnout, but you don’t realize that there are actually thousands of positions at the local level in particular that, that there are almost no one running for," said Emily Schwartz, a vice president at NationBuilder.
The company is funding work through the website Run for Office that helps link residents to open local positions like a seat on the school board or water district board.
They’ve created a searchable database of races with August filing deadlines. The database includes information on several counties in Southern California — there are 1,059 elected positions in Southern California that have a filing window deadline of Friday, according to the data the website has collected.
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Alex Olvera, division manager of election information and preparation for LA County, said the process is easiest when you plan ahead. He suggested a few weeks to sort through the necessary steps and paperwork. But it's not too late to get involved—the deadline is close of business day on Friday.
For information on how to run for office, contact your county elections office. You can also find information about how to file in LA County on their website.
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