WOODSFIELD — Monroe County commissioners had a few questions Monday for the board of elections about state redistricting maps, and elections officials did their best to address the concerns.

Director Mollie Landefeld said the board plans to move forward as normal with the upcoming primary election, although they are unsure what will transpire if the redistricting is not completed in time.

“We’re preparing. We’re moving forward, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re not going to have this third election this year — we don’t know yet. They have to submit maps by Tuesday morning, as in tomorrow, to the Supreme Court,” she said.

The court has rejected three previous maps.

Commissioner Mick Schumacher asked if the map delay would affect local officials running for election, such as himself. Landefeld said Schumacher’s race will not be affected and will appear on the May 3 ballot.

Landefeld said since the maps are not finalized, the current districts could change along with the candidates’ petitions.

“We’ve checked all the petitions we can check, so nobody else can apply as of right now.

Once those maps are finalized, then those candidate names will go to whatever district they belong in,” she added.

Landefeld said even if the boundaries are changed, they will still accept the candidates’ petitions.

“On their petitions they have to put what district they are in, so we’ve been told if they put 30th district in there … and their district ends up being 28, that petition will not be invalidated.

“We’re going to accept those petitions as is,” she said.

She said she just hopes that the county remains “intact” once the redistricting is complete.

Landefeld originally met with commissioners Monday regarding the cost of a special election in the county, which is set for $33,103.30.

“That breaks down to $3.59 per voter for a total of 9,227 voters,” she said, adding that special elections are “few and far between.”

If requested, a special election would be held in August.

“Any political subdivision can ask for it,” she said.

In other matters, Prosecutor James Peters stopped at the commission meeting to inquire about the pending jail sewer project. The county recently secured a $330,000 grant for the installation of a bar screen for the jail sewer line that would prevent foreign materials from entering the system.

Peters said he received an email from E.L Robinson, the engineering company hired to assist the county with the project, that states the project has a 16-20 week lead time. He asked if there was a particular way commissioners wanted him to respond to the village of Woodsfield, which has pushed for the county to complete the project since it owns the septic system the jail’s lines are hooked up to.

Commissioner Bill Bolon said the project has not been put out to bid yet, so an exact timeline is unknown.

Peters said he will forward the email received from the engineering company to village officials to keep them updated on the project’s progress.