Voters in Clifton Forge will face a blank ballot when it comes to electing two members to the Clifton Forge Town Council in the Nov. 4 election.

But there could be as many as six candidates campaigning for write-in votes for the two seats.

The five-member town council holds staggered elections, which means two seats are up for election this year, and the remaining three seats will be up for election in 2010.

The two seats in this year's election are currently held by Mayor Annette Anderson and Councilman Ed Mansfield. Neither Anderson nor Mansfield collected the 125 signatures of registered voters necessary to get their names on the ballot.

Vice Mayor Jimmy Houff said an examination of the signatures submitted by both candidates indicated that many were unregistered voters, leaving each candidate with only 123 proper signatures.

Voters will instead have to write in the names of the candidates they are voting for. Technically, the names are typed in using computerized voting machines that are now standard throughout the state.

Anderson, Mansfield and candidates Johnette Roberts and James Helms have notified Alleghany County Voter Registrar Elizabeth Rose that they plan to run as write-in candidates.

Houff said there could be as many as six candidates running for the two council seats.

"There are several people that have expressed an interest," he said.

In 2006, Clifton Forge moved its town election from the spring to the fall. The town has 2,393 registered voters.

Clifton Forge isn't the only town with blank ballots. Voters in Troutville in Botetourt County will have to elect council members and mayor by write-in votes after none of the candidates running for office met a June deadline to get their names on the ballot.