Filing for city elections opened last week and two candidates have already thrown their hats in the race.

Councilmembers Elizabeth Abraham, Place 1, and Jennifer Berthiaume, Place 2, both submitted their paperwork to be on the May ballot on the first day of the filing period.

Place 4, currently held by Ken Oltmann and Place 6, held by Jene Butler, will also be on the ballot, however, as of presstime, Oltmann and Butler have yet to file.

City elections will be held May 7 and the filing period to be considered on the ballot opened Jan. 19 and runs through Feb. 18.

Berthiaume was first elected in 2016 and is seeking her third term. Abraham, Oltmann and Butler were all elected in 2019.

The mayor and councilmembers are elected at-large, meaning they represent the entire city and all registered voters may vote for all seven places.

Candidates seeking office can pick up packets at the Murphy City Secretary’s office, located at City Hall, 206 North Murphy Road.

The last day to register to vote for the May election will be April 7. Early voting will begin April 25 and ends May 3. Times and locations for early voting have yet to be determined but residents can cast their ballot at any location in the county in which they are registered to vote.

To be eligible to vote in Texas an individual must be a U.S. citizen and a resident of the county where they submit the application.

Voters must also be 17 years and 10 months old on the date the voter registration application is submitted and 18 years of age on election day.

Individuals convicted of a felony may not be eligible to vote unless their sentence has been fully completed. If an individual has been declared either mentally incapacitated or partly incapacitated by a judge, they may also be ineligible to vote.

Collin County residents can check their status at collincountytx.gov/elections.

Texans will also have a chance to vote in the upcoming March 1 primary. Texas is an open primary state, meaning that voters do not register to vote as a member of a pollical party, instead they vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary.

The last day to register to vote for the upcoming March 1 primary race is Jan. 31.