Registered voters in Ward 3 likely will go to the polls on May 24 to select someone to fill out the term of Selma City Councilwoman Dr. Monica Newton.

A majority of the Selma City Council approved the election date Tuesday evening. However, Mayor George Evans has to call for the election.

“I will call for the election,” Evans said after the meeting. “I will not oppose it.”

Newton is leaving Selma and moving to Atlanta. Her last city council meeting will be Jan. 11.

Council President Cecil Williamson said the council would meet again after the meeting Jan. 11, meaning that same night, to declare Newton’s seat vacant.

“Or we could meet the next day,” he said.

The mayor must call for an election within 60 days of the declared vacancy, if the council does not appoint someone from Ward 3 to fill the position.

As with all elections, the U.S. Justice Department must give its approval within 60 days of a request to hold the election.

Dates for candidates to qualify for the election and for registered voters to cast absentee ballots will depend on different variables, such as when the election supplies are available, city attorney Jimmy Nunn said.

About a month ago, Evans and council members Bennie Ruth Crenshaw of Ward 7 and Samuel Randolph of Ward 5 had raised questions of the cost of holding the election. Evans said the council had not provided for an election in the budget, meaning cuts will have to come from somewhere.