MIDDLEBURY — Those running for local offices on Town Meeting Day have until Monday, Jan. 24, to file the necessary paperwork with their respective town clerks.

A collection of signatures is not required to run for office this year.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Legislature has enacted some provisions to provide options to make town meetings safer, the town of Middlebury pointed out. One action signed into law by the governor was to waive the requirement for local candidates to obtain signatures on a nomination petition in order to be placed on the ballot.

Here’s how Middlebury explained it:

“For anyone who is currently gathering signatures, you need only submit what you have to the town clerk, but you MUST fill out the consent form to have your name placed on the ballot.

“For those who have been considering running for a local office, but decided not to gather signatures this year due to the pandemic, you just need to fill out the consent form at your town clerk’s office.”

In Middlebury, three of the seven selectboard seats will be on the ballot on March 1. Those seats are currently occupied by incumbents Nick Artim, Heather Seeley and Esther Thomas. Seeley and Thomas have confirmed their plans to seek new, three-year terms, while Artim has announced he won’t seek reelection after more than 12 years on the panel.

Andy Hooper has confirmed he’ll run for one of the selectboard seats.

Meanwhile, five of the Addison Central School District board’s 13 seats will be up for grabs during Australian ballot voting on Town Meeting Day. ACSD members are voted at-large in the district-member towns of Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge.

ACSD board members with expiring three-year terms include board Chair Mary Cullinane of Weybridge; Amy McGlashan of Ripton; and Betty Kafumbe, James “Chip” Malcolm and Lorraine Morse, all of Middlebury.

Kafumbe told the Independent she won’t seek re-election, though McGlashan and Malcolm said they’ll each seek another three years. Morse, one of the most veteran members of the panel, said she hasn’t yet decided whether she’ll be on the ballot.

Efforts to reach Cullinane were unsuccessful as the Independent went to press.