Cherokee County School Board members will be in the unfamiliar position of running for election at the same time as city council members next year.

School board chairman Donnie Lee Smith is up for re-election along with board members Sandra Greene, Willie Crosby and Billy Blackwell. They are the first school trustees to run for election under a new school election law approved by the U.S. Department of Justice.

State lawmakers moved the school board elections from November to mid- August for the 2008 elections. School board and city council elections will take place Aug. 12.

The 2-week filing period must now be moved back to account for the new election law.

School board and city council candidates will likely file during the same two week period in May, Cherokee County Election Commission Executive Director Suzanne Turner said. The election commission will meet in January or February to approve the filing period.

"The town of Blacksburg has their attorney looking into whether they can move their elections from March to August because of the new school board election date," Turner said. "This would mean most of the local elections would be held in August with the exception of county council and the solicitor."

National presidential and congressional races mean county voters will still have plenty of candidates to vote for in November. A list of county precincts will be made available in early January.

"This election will be a little easier for us because we won't have any split school board precincts like we've had in the past," Turner said.