POCATELLO — A runoff election between Mayor Brian Blad and challenger David Worley will be scheduled for Nov. 30, Bannock County Clerk Jason Dixon confirmed Wednesday morning.

A Pocatello city ordinance requires a runoff for the mayor’s position whenever a single candidate fails to garner at least one more than half of the votes cast.

Blad, who is seeking his fourth four-year term, received 5,162 votes, or 46.18 percent of the total. Worley received 3,745 votes, or 33.51 percent of the total.

Dixon intends to host early voting at the election’s office, located at 141 N. Sixth Ave., from Nov. 12 through Nov. 26. The office will be closed on Nov. 25 for Thanksgiving.

Polls will be open on Nov. 30 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

He said he still needs to contact area businesses and Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25 about getting the usual polling places secured, but he doesn’t envision any changes in polling locations.

Dixon and his staff planned to meet Wednesday about issues with the runoff, and they will also seek answers to questions from the Idaho Secretary of State’s office, including about campaign finance rules for a runoff election.

“It’s been a long, long time since we’ve had a runoff,” Dixon said. “I think we had three really strong candidates and really spread that vote out. We’ve had more than two candidates before but we’ve never, in my opinion, had three strong candidates.”

Absentee ballots will automatically be sent to voters who requested an absentee ballot for Tuesday’s election, and completed ballots for the runoff will be due at the election’s office by 8 p.m. Nov. 30. Eligible voters can register at the polls.

Dixon noted that elections are expensive, and some cities, such as Chubbuck, have provisions in municipal code to avoid runoffs.

Dixon noted Chubbuck uses a ranked voting system, allowing voters to identify a second choice to make certain there’s a winner.