ADDISON COUNTY — Lobbying for write-in support on Tuesday were the three candidates for Addison County side judge: Alice George of Middlebury, Mark Smith of Middlebury and Irene Poole of Ripton. No one had filed nomination papers for the county’s two side judge vacancies at the filing deadline in June. So George, Smith and Poole have all decided to lobby for the minimum 50 write-in votes they will need to get on the Nov. 4 ballot.
George and Poole, with 81 and 61 tallies, respectively, both exceeded the 50-vote threshold on the Middlebury Democrat ballot alone. Mark Smith received 27 write-in votes in Middlebury. In the only other write-in results available to the Independent on Wednesday morning, in Ferrisburgh, George got 14 votes and Poole got 2; in Panton, George got 5 votes; in Salisbury, Poole received one vote; in Orwell, George received 10 votes, Smith got 3 and Poole got 3; in Shoreham it was George-5, Smith-5, and Poole-5;  and in Leicester George and Smith each received one  vote.
It remained unclear as the Addison Independent went to press as to whether Smith had met the 50-vote margin.
“I’m excited and want to thank the voters for believing in me,” George said of her success on Tuesday. “I feel I will do a great job (as side judge) and won’t let them down.”
“I’m honored,” said Poole. “I want to thank the voters for coming out and supporting me.”