Fayette County elections officials entered uncharted waters this week with the untimely death of Rep. Dan Lakly.

Elections supervisor Tom Sawyer spent much of Monday afternoon researching the protocol of how Lakly’s seat would be filled. By Tuesday morning, he had a few answers.

“The Governor and the Secretary of State’s Office will announce next week when the qualifying period is,” Sawyer said. The state agencies are waiting until next week out of respect to the family, but the whole process could culminate in a special election in early December.

Sawyer said the announcement will occur five days before qualifying starts, and the qualifying will be done over a period of two and a half days. The fees will be set by the Secretary of State, and the election will occur within a month after qualifying ends.

Since Fayette’s next election is not until the Presidential preference primary Feb. 5, the county would face a lack of representation in the General Assembly if a special election was not called, Sawyer added.

He said 19 precincts across the middle section of Fayette County will participate in the December election.