Early voting is underway for a runoff election to fill a vacant seat on the Siloam Springs Board of Directors.

The special general election day for Position 5, an at-large position on the city board, will be on Tuesday and will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Siloam Springs Community Building at 110 North Mount Olive.

Early voting began on Jan. 2 and continues through Monday. Early votes can be cast between 8 a.m.-noon and 1-4:30 p.m. at the county clerk's office.

Reid Carroll and Karl Mounger are the candidates. Carroll won the popular vote after receiving 86 votes while Mounger and Jerry Cavness each received 84 votes during an election on Dec. 12, 2017. Mounger and Cavness each drew a playing card to determine which one would join Carroll in a runoff, which was needed because none of the three candidates received a majority of the 254 total votes that were cast.

The tie for second place in the three-person election set a precedent, so the Benton County Election Commission determined the tie would be broken by "drawing lots." That resulted in Carroll and Cavness each drawing a card from a new deck with the candidate drawing the highest card advancing to the runoff election.

Carroll moved to Siloam Springs in 1996 and owned Barnett's Dairyette for 18 years. He's running on the campaign slogan of "Connecting the Wow" because he hopes to explore ways to connect all of the different parts of the community that make Siloam Springs great if he's elected.

"I have an appreciation for maintaining or even growing our quality of life in the city of Siloam Springs, even from within our infrastructure," Carroll said. "The ability and the desire to cross boundaries can define me. Whether it's political, social, economic, maybe it's religious or even generational, let's work together."

Mounger currently serves as chairman of the planning commission and said his experience makes him the more viable candidate. The Siloam Springs native has previously served on the city board and the school board. He's been part of numerous clubs and organizations and won several awards for community service. He was with the Siloam Springs post office for 33 years and retired as postmaster. Among other things, Mounger also served as an Emergency Medical Technician, was on the volunteer fire department for eight years and was a certified law enforcement officer for 40 years.

"It is important that directors on our city board have the experience to make informed decisions," Mounger said. "And I hope voters look at my experience over his because I've been here all my life and been involved in civic, county and state work for 47 years."

Both candidates have said they are hoping to see a higher turnout than last month's special election.

Voters also can learn more about each candidate by watching video of a Dec. 7 candidate forum that is still available on the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce Facebook page. At press time, the video had received more than 500 views.