Why are 3 moderator positions available in the December 2014 election?

Recently Willie Wong announced that he is retiring as moderator. A moderator election just started, in which there are 3 available positions. This makes me wonder:

Are other moderator retirements expected soon? Will we have an increase in the number of moderators? How was the number 3 determined?

• I suspect that a die was cast. – Asaf Karagila Dec 8 '14 at 23:49
• If you have been following the moderators user profiles, you might notice that one of them has been mostly inactive for quite some time now. It might be reasonable to speculate this moderator will be replaced as well. – Asaf Karagila Dec 9 '14 at 0:29
• We consulted The Book of Armaments. – robjohn Dec 9 '14 at 0:59
• Thank god! robjohn is not leaving! – Aditya Hase Dec 9 '14 at 3:43
• @robjohn: That might be one of the best comments on meta. I demand that a special badge in the shape, color and consistency of Eric Idle will be awarded to you. – Asaf Karagila Dec 9 '14 at 3:57
• How was the number $3$ determined ? $-~3=\lfloor\pi\rfloor=\lceil e\rceil$. – Lucian Dec 9 '14 at 6:17
• @AsafKaragila: no, we flipped a coin. And both sides were heads. [There's some truth to that: the mods had a long discussion about the number and of those who voted (I didn't, since I don't think it was my place to in this instance) chose 3 as the number.] – Willie Wong Dec 10 '14 at 15:09
• @Willie: Is this because 3 is between 4 and 2, also known as 42, also known as The Answer? – Asaf Karagila Dec 10 '14 at 15:58
• If I recall correctly, there was an instance where a moderator retired but no new election was held. Perhaps this is why there are 3 positions available. – user157227 Dec 13 '14 at 8:31
• @user157227: See the quote of Arthur Fischer in the second comment. – Asaf Karagila Dec 14 '14 at 20:05
• I guessed correctly about Alex. – Asaf Karagila Dec 23 '14 at 20:12
• 3 new mods? Half-Life 3 confirmed. – Richard D. James Dec 24 '14 at 17:11

As indicated in the comments, one other moderator retired, and the number of moderators increased by $1$.