No new candidates filed on Tuesday and as the end of the period approaches, primary ballots shaping up to be short.

Dell Parker, director of the Scotland County Board of Elections, encourages anyone who may seek office to hurry on down to the elections office to file

"With filing coming to an end on Friday, I would like to encourage anyone with the intent to file for an office to be in the Board of Elections office with ample time for all paperwork and filing fees to be processed prior to the noon deadline," Parker said. "Arriving five minutes 'til noon does not allow enough time for the Board of Elections office to process everything and still be within the State Board of Elections directive with the noon cut-off. The directive is as follows:

"Notices of candidacy and filing fees must be in the possession of the appropriate board of elections at the time the filing period closes. Boards of elections are without discretion to extend the filing period or to accept notices of candidacies received after the close of the filing period regardless of the circumstances."

Parker has heard no rumors of any other challengers who may be filing, though she suspected her position as elections director precludes her from conversations on dark horse candidates and last-minute filers.

For county seats, there is only one race so far that requires a primary – the Scotland County Sheriff's race.

Sheriff Shep Jones and challenger Mike Webb will face off in the primary to be the Democratic nominee for the sheriff's race. The rivals who faced off in 2006 have no other opposition for the General Election as of Monday. The filing fee to run for sheriff is $720.

Incumbent Scotland County Commissioners Betty Blue Gholston, Spring Hill District, and J.D. Willis and Guy McCook, Stewartsville District, have no challengers at this point in the Democratic primary. No one has signed up as a Republican, Libertarian or unaffiliated to challenge the Democratic commissioners. The filing fee to run for the county commission is $63.

Clerk of Superior Court Phil McRae is also facing a solo race as the Laurinburg Democrat is the only contender as of yet for the Scotland County position. The filing fee to run for the clerk of court is $824.

The Scotland County Board of Education has four seats up, two Stewartsville District seats held by Mary Evans and Paul Rush and two At-large seats held by Jimmy Bennett and Calvin Newton. Each pair of incumbents is currently facing one challenger – Jennifer O'Donnell for the At-large seats and Rodney Hassler for a Stewartsville seat.

Since each district has two seats in the nonpartisan school board race, Parker says the current election laws require more than four running in a race to appear on a primary ballot. the filing fee for this position is $10.

Local legislators also currently face no primary opposition yet, with Laurinburg Democrat Sen. Bill Purcell facing Republican challenger Jason Phibbs and Laurinburg Democrat Doug Yongue facing Republican G.L. Pridgen.

Wagram Democrat Rep. Garland Pierce currently has no opposition.

There is a $207 filing fee to run for a state house or senate seat.

District Court judges Regina M. Joe and William C. McIlwain III currently have no challengers for the seats on the District 16A court. There is a $1,094 filing fee to seek a district judgeship.