Her decision means the lawsuit brought by a citizens group proceeds to a jury trial for a decision. Three county residents filed the action in February to void the Dec. 23 election in which voters approved a major expansion of the college campus.

The ruling followed oral arguments Christopher heard on July 2 and her review of briefs filed July 18. In denying the dismissal, the judge agrees that the lawsuit has enough merit to warrant a jury trial.

Missoula attorney Thomas Orr, representing the citizen group, said he believes Christopher followed the law.

"We're very pleased," he said.

He said he had just read the ruling when contacted Thursday. But Orr said he thought it was a good possibility that he and co-attorney Jamie McKittrick would seek a summary judgment on the suit which would, in effect, void the election.

"There are potential issues in the writ that could be tried in a trial," Orr said.

Those issues would likely include damages. Orr said the suit has been very expensive but that the citizen group has ample resources to continue to trial.

"We've always been willing to look at the possibility of a settlement to preserve the taxpayers' resources," Orr said. "This has never been about attorney's fees."

College president Jane Karas said the college had also just received the ruling and had made no decisions on how to proceed.

"The judge didn't grant a win for either side," Karas pointed out.

However, she said the delay of up to 18 months to reach a jury trial means the college could lose out on favorable interest rates and trial preparation would also be costly.

"That's a potential loss for the taxpayer," Karas said.

Increasing numbers of students seeking the bargain education offered by the community college may also lose from a delayed or canceled campus expansion.

Karas said soaring enrollments that prompted the trustees to seek a campus expansion last fall continued in the fall and spring.

"We expect the fall enrollment to be up as well," she said.

The president pointed out that the college faces a real dilemma trying to serve people seeking retraining after major layoffs at the aluminum plant, Stream and the timber industry.

"Our goal has always been to better serve and meet the needs of the community," Karas said. "At some point, we either can't serve everyone or we have to expand."

She had no comment about the possibility of a settlement without a jury trial. Karas said the college had not received any settlement offers up to this point.

The attorney representing the citizen's group indicated a settlement offer could be forthcoming.

"We will be in discussions with the college and its attorneys," Orr said.

Deputy County attorney Jonathan Smith said he was disappointed with the judge's decision.

"It would take months just to get to the trial," he said.

Smith said the trial itself would probably take only a week or two. He said that a settlement remains an option if the two sides come to an agreement.

"It's the parties who settle, not the attorneys," Smith said.

The dispute erupted from a mistake made by the county election office in removing 15,000 names from the voter list provided to the college for its mail-in ballot election.

As required by law, the election office purged those who didn't vote in the last general election. However, the voters didn't receive the two notices mandated by law.

Most of the major issues raised in the lawsuit grew from the college's decision to make a second mailing of ballots to the 15,000 excluded voters. The return date for ballots was extended from Dec. 12 to Dec. 23 to give those excluded voters ample time to send in the ballot.

The citizen group filed the action to void the election based on provisions of Montana law requiring all ballots to go out in one mailing as well as requirements to follow the election plan filed with the Secretary of State's office.

At the July 2 oral arguments, the college said an analysis of the votes showed the extension did not change the outcome of the election.

College officials had consulted the Secretary of State's office and the county attorney before deciding to continue the election. They hoped to save taxpayers the expense of a new election estimated at $40,000 or more.

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