Town Moderator Claire Smith may be running uncontested in her bid for re-election, after the Board of Registrars determined that challenger Bill Whitehouse failed to garner 50 signatures of registered Wareham voters in order to secure a spot on the April 2 ballot.

Whitehouse turned in slightly more than 50 signatures on his nomination papers, but ended up just four shy of the requirement.

Town Clerk Mary Ann Silva said that the registrars could not count the signatures of voters who used P.O. boxes instead of street addresses (voter registration is tied to street addresses), who were not registered at the addresses they wrote down, or who wrote illegibly.

Silva said she and her assistant double-checked the signatures, and attempted to try two potential street names for a voter who wrote an illegible name and address, but to no avail.

Whitehouse has the opportunity to appeal the Board of Registrars' decision. He did not immediately comment on the situation.

The ballot may still change before it hits the printers. Feb. 28 is the last day for a candidate to withdraw, or for a registered voter to formally object to a candidate being on the ballot.