Jonathan Smith, deputy county attorney representing the college, said opposing attorneys Thomas C. Orr and Jamie McKittrich recently deposed college President Jane Karas and plan to also question election administrator Carolyn Shriver under oath prior to the hearing.

Lake County District Judge Kim Christopher turned down Smith's recent motion to stop the deposition prior to the July 2 hearing. He hoped to avoid initiating a potentially lengthy discovery process that could push back the court date.

However, Smith said, as of Wednesday, that the July 2 court date had not changed. He said the opposing attorneys may call witnesses along with making oral arguments at the hearing.

A major expansion of the college campus hangs on Christopher's decision about whether to dismiss the lawsuit on summary judgment. Smith said he could not predict how long the judge might take to weigh the arguments.

College officials had hoped to take advantage of historic low interest rates this spring before a loose-knit citizen group disputed the election results. The plan originally called for construction to begin during the 2003 building season.

The court challenge began in February when Missoula attorneys Orr and McKittrich filed the suit in the names of three county residents. Much of the dispute resulted from a county election office error that dropped 15,000 voters from the first mailing of election ballots.

Although the college, by state law, runs its own elections, the county office provides the list of legal district voters. The county mistakenly moved the disputed voters to inactive status without two required notices.

When the error was discovered, college officials opted to make an additional ballot mailing to the 15,000 voters and extended the election from Dec. 12 to Dec. 23 for all voters to send back ballots. Their other option was to cancel the election and spend another $40,000 for a new vote.

The court challenge charges that the college's decision to continue the election violated provisions of state election law.

Although the lawsuit was filed in Flathead County, Christopher assumed jurisdiction for the action to avoid an appearance of conflict of interest by judges here since the outcome will impact their property tax bills. Christopher will travel to Kalispell for the hearing.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com