AUBURN – If no write-in candidate steps forward, the School Committee’s next Ward 4 representative will be chosen by the City Council.

The seat is currently held by one-term representative Karen Bilodeau. Over the summer she announced she would not seek re-election because she was disillusioned with Auburn’s style of politics.

That decision opened the seat, but no one filed papers by deadline to become an official candidate. No name will appear on the ballot.

To win, a write-in candidate must receive at least 25 votes from Auburn residents who correctly write their choice’s name and street address and fill in the oval on the ballot. Ward 5 representative David Das won his seat in 2002 as a write-in candidate.

“So it’s not impossible,” said City Clerk Mary Lou Magno.

But no write-in candidate had stepped forward yet this year, she said.

If no write-in candidate wins Nov. 2, it would be the first time the council has had to fill a School Committee seat because an election failed.

Six incumbents are running unopposed for the other School Committee seats. They are Ward 1, Ross Leavitt; Ward 2, Justin Leary; Ward 3, Chairwoman Kathy Constantine; Ward 5, David Das; at large, Jane Williams and Theodore Belitsos.