NEW ULM – New Ulm’s next Ward 4 city councilor will be decided by write-in vote in November.

During the candidate filing period, no one chose to file for Ward 4, including incumbent Larry Mack, who announced earlier in the year he would not seek a fourth term.

The question now facing New Ulm’s fourth ward is whose name to write in?

Following Tuesday’s, city council meeting, Mack said he would be willing to serve another term if voted in as a write-in candidate, but he will not campaign for the seat.

Mack’s announcement came after the city council unanimously approved a resolution impacting how write-in votes are counted.

The new resolution would require a person seeking election to a municipal office as a write-in candidate to file a written request to the city finance director if the candidate wants write-in votes to be individually recorded. The written request must be submitted at least 19 days before the election.

City Council President Andrea Boettger said this resolution brought New Ulm in line with state regulations. Currently, neither the New Ulm’s city charter or city code established requirements for write-in candidates in municipal elections.

Without this regulation, election officials in New Ulm must review and count write-in votes. By adopting this new regulation, local election officials will only be require to tabulate the write-in votes if requested in advance. This is expected to save election administrators time, but it would also give the city a clear method for identifying candidates who are actively seeking election to municipal office.

This resolution will go into effect after the Nov. 2026 municipal election. All write-in votes received in this year’s election will tabulated regardless of any written request.