First Posted: 2/14/2014

LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Board of Elections office, which has been closed for the last two days because of the winter storm Pax, has reopened for any Robesonians wishing to file to run for public office in the May primary.

The office opened at 8:15 this morning, said G.L. Pridgen, a former state legislator and the newly appointed director for the Board of Elections. He said that while the office is open for business, there are currently some problems with the office phone system.

Pridgen says that anyone interested in filing as a candidate for an office should do so as soon as possible. The candidate filing period, which began Monday, will continue through Feb. 28. The filing period is the same for all counties across the state and will not be extended because of the lost days to the winter storm.

“I’m urging everyone thinking about running to come in early and file,” Pridgen said. “Plan to come in early so that something like this (snow closing) doesn’t delay the filing again.”

Thirteen candidates filed Monday for county and state offices, as well as for seats on the Public Schools of Robeson County Board of Education. There were an additional five candidates for the state General Assembly, whose districts represent part of Robeson County, who filed for office in the county in which they reside.

The primary, which is mostly partisan races, is scheduled for May 6.

Pax closed down most county offices; plans were for most of them to reopen today at 11 a.m.