Flowery Branch residents will go to the polls March 6 in a special election to fill two open city council seats, but one of them already has been decided.

Mary Jones was the only candidate to qualify for the Post 2 seat vacated by Chris Fetterman on Jan. 3.

Jones, 69, lost to Fetterman in a race for the seat last November. But Fetterman resigned due to a job transfer and left the seat vacant.

Jones served a four-year term on the council that ended in 2009. She will fill the rest of Fetterman's term that began this month.

There will be a race for the second open seat, the Post 3 position Kris Yardley left last year to run for a state House post.

Jason Covert, Fred Richards and Pat Zalewski qualified for that race. The winner will fill Yardley's unexpired term, which ends Dec. 31, 2013.

The special election is held the same day as the state's presidential preference primary. The deadline for voter registration is Feb. 6. Early voting will begin Feb. 13.

The city council has another temporary vacancy while member Tara Richards, a captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, trains for an upcoming six-month deployment to Afghanistan. The city charter requires three members and a mayor or mayor pro tem to be present to conduct meetings.