MATTAPOISETT — The debate over a five-member Select Board in Mattapoisett isn’t over quite yet.

Nine weeks after Mattapoisett voters approved expanding the Select Board from three to five members in a voice vote at the Annual Town Meeting, the Mattapoisett Republican Town Committee is leading a petition for a special Town Meeting to challenge this approval.

The petition can move forward if it receives either 200 signatures or 20 percent of voters, whichever is smaller.

If reached, petitioners can request a special Town Meeting, which must be held no later than 45 days after the Select Board receives the request.

On Tuesday, June 10, the Mattapoisett Select Board voted to move the Board expansion request along to state officials, which continued the process voters started after approving Article 34 at Town Meeting on Monday, May 12.

This decision came two weeks after Select Board members tabled the vote on Tuesday, May 27, citing the fact that Town Meeting results hadn’t yet been certified.

At the May 27 meeting, Select Board Chair Tyler Macallister had voiced several additional concerns on the matter, including how the vote was handled at Town Meeting.

Macallister noted that “there were a number of non-voters in the audience that didn’t sit in the designated area” and said from where he sat there didn’t appear to be an overwhelming majority of voters in favor of Board expansion.

He also estimated that “roughly one third” of voters left Town Meeting after voting on whether to expand the Board.

The Mattapoisett Republican Town Committee will be discussing the petition and a special Town Meeting at its Thursday, July 17 meeting where they will touch on the petition’s purpose, signature collection, outreach plans and volunteer opportunities.