With no candidates having filed to run for the Ocean Pines Board of Directors and just three weeks left until the May 10 filing deadline, and no board-appointed candidate search committee out scouring the neighborhoods for possible participants, this year’s Ocean Pines election is … not shaping up.

This doesn’t mean there won’t be a last-minute flurry of activity and that at least five people won’t sign up to vie for one of the three available seats — the bylaws require two more candidates than board vacancies, a rule that should be changed —  but the lack of buzz so far this election season is unusual.

Any number of theories might be floated for the absence of the normal huddling, discussion and positioning that generally occurs as the days wind down to the filing deadline.

One, it could be that the current board — what’s left of it after the resignation of two members who were up for reelection — has done such a fine job this past year that no one sees much value in campaigning for change.

Or there’s the possibility that, given the hot seat that board members have to occupy from time to time, no one wants to put up with the occasional discomfort of having to explain his or her position to a critical public.

And then, serving on the board does take a fair amount of time, which  could get in the way of work or the more enjoyable activities that drew homeowners to the community in the first place.

The more likely explanation, however, is that potential candidates are waiting to see who else might be running before making a move and committing to two months of campaigning until the final votes come in on Aug. 7.

That makes the most sense, considering that the number one rule of politics is that the first step any election hopeful must take is to assess his or her chances.