Voters will get a shot this Wednesday at questioning candidates in a special election for the Georgia House of Representatives.

The Youth Council serving Fayette County is hosting a “Meet The Candidates Forum” for the House District 72 seat, a swath of 20 generally Republican-leaning precincts across the central section of Fayette County, including southern Peachtree City.

The forum is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 12, at City Hall Council Chambers in Peachtree City, 151 Willowbend Road (next to the PTC Library). The forum will start at 7 p.m.

All four contenders for the unexpired term of the late Rep. Dan Lakly (R-Peachtree City) have confirmed they will attend the forum. The four are Democratic candidate Kevin Madden and Republican candidates Heidi Becker, Steve Brown, and Matt Ramsey.

“All citizens are encouraged to attend, but limited seating is available, so please get there early to avoid standing,” said youth council spokesman Art Sivertsen in a Friday email.

“The format will consist of a four-minute opening statement by each candidate. Then questions will be randomly selected from anonymous questions from the audience,” Sivertsen said.

“Five drop boxes will be available for questions. Four of them will have each candidate’s name on it, so audience members can ask a question for the candidate of their choice, and the fifth box will be for questions that should be asked of all candidates,” Sivertsen said.

“The candidates will have one minute to answer the question. If one of the other candidates name is mentioned in the initial question, the named candidate will have 30 seconds to respond,” Sivertsen said.

“The Youth Council will review all questions before they are used, so that the questions stay relevant. If you have any questions about the candidates forum, please contact Art Sivertsen, youth council executive director, at 770-486-3936.”

Lakly, long a fixture of Fayette politics, died in October, midway through the second term of his most recent time in state office.

Madden challenged Lakly in 2006 but was beaten by nearly three-to-one.

Brown is well-known as the former mayor of Peachtree City.

Becker and Ramsey are both political newcomers making their first runs at elective office.

The special election is Dec. 18. It is an open election, meaning that no primaries were held beforehand, and thus both parties have candidates in the race. A runoff in January will be required if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the Dec. 18 vote.