A new school election date means no special election is needed to fill the vacant seat left by the Oct. 15 death of school trustee Ola Copeland.

A special election is required if a school board vacancy occurs within 10 months of a regular election.

The U.S. Department of Justice gave final approval this week for the school board elections to be moved from November to mid- August. The law takes effect for the 2008 election.

The Aug. 12 election date means Copeland's remaining term falls outside the time period required to hold a special election, Cherokee County Election Commission Executive Director Suzanne Turner said. This means the school board will operate with eight members until the next election.

Even if a special election was held, Turner said the winner would still have had to run for a full 4-year term for the District 8 seat held by Copeland.

The school board sent a letter last month to the U.S. Department of Justice hoping it would overturn a law approved by state lawmakers in June. In addition to the new election date, the law adds a majority vote requirement and a runoff provision.

Previous elections only required a school board member to receive the most votes in order to win a school board seat.

Under the 1973 Voting Rights Act, the Department of Justice was required to approve any changes in election procedures since South Carolina remains under a desegregation order.

The new Cherokee County school election law automatically took effect when the justice department took no action to oppose the changes, state Rep. Dennis Moss (DGaffney) said.

Moss introduced the election bill this spring in response to concerns expressed by several residents.

Moss said these residents wanted a majority vote requirement added for future school elections to ensure the will of voters was reflected in future election outcomes. He said he felt the changes will make elections run more efficiently.

The school board elections will now be held at the same time as the City of Gaffney and Gaffney Board of Public Works elections in August. Blacksburg Town Council has discussed the possibility of moving its elections from March until August because of the new school board election date.