(Mount Rainier, MD) - A Special Election will be held on Monday, April 25, 2022, at the Mount Rainier Nature & Recreation Center from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to fill the vacant councilmember seat in the City of Mount Rainier due to the resignation of Former Ward 2 Councilmember Scott Cecil in October.

At the January 4 legislative meeting, Mayor Celina Benitez and Councilmembers Luke Chesek, Jimmy Tarlau, and Jarrett Stoltzfus voted on a charter amendment that will allow filling vacancies in office through a special election if a vacancy occurs more than one year before the next general election. The next general election is not slated until May 2023.

The Mount Rainier Board of Elections (MRBOE), in close coordination with the City Manager and the City Clerk, will oversee the entire election process from the filing of candidacy, registration of voters, campaign period, election day, ballot counting to the proclamation of the winner.  

All registered voters who live in ward 2 will be eligible to vote in the upcoming Special Election. The voter must be at least 16 years old and must also be a resident of Mount Rainier for at least 30 days before the election.  

Candidates who wish to run for the legislative seat must also be a resident of ward 2 for at least a year before the election, must be eligible or registered voters of Maryland, and must be 18 years old when they file for nomination.  In addition, the candidate must complete and submit a Candidate Packet to the MRBOE before March 14, 2022, 4 p.m. deadline. The elected councilmember will serve for the remainder of the 4-year term which will end in May 2023 when the next regular election will be held.

For more information, please go to the Special Election page on the City Website or email the MRBOE at elections@mountrainiermd.org.