Judge sets January trial date for disputed election

December 31, 2003, 9:22 AM EST

UTICA, N.Y. A federal judge has scheduled a Jan. 20 trial date to resolve the disputed results of a township supervisor's race.

In a 17-page order Tuesday, Judge David Hurd said it was clear a voting machine had malfunctioned Nov. 4 in the race for Whitestown Town Supervisor and that Democrat Thomas Shannon was the winner over Republican challenger David Jacobowitz.

However, Hurd said he would allow the dispute to go to trial so Jacobowitz could challenge the results if he wished.

Jacobowitz's attorney, Gregory Amoroso, told The Observer-Dispatch of Utica that he would discuss with his client whether to appeal Hurd's decision or go to trial. He declined any other comment.

Jacobowitz appeared to have won the election by 25 votes. However, the incumbent Shannon challenged the outcome because of a malfunctioning voting machine. Shannon joined with five voters in a federal lawsuit in November claiming their civil rights were violated by the malfunctioning machine.

At a hearing in December, 70 voters swore under oath that they voted for Shannon on the Democratic line of a machine that ended up showing only one vote for Shannon.

Hurd said he found that Shannon lost between 69 and 139 votes because of the malfunction and that he was the winner by a margin of between 44 and 114 votes.

Shannon told the newspaper that Hurd's ruling was "clear and concise" and that he hoped Jacobowitz would now agree to end the dispute out of court.

"He's saying to people, 'I don't care about your vote,"' Shannon said.

Hurd has issued an order barring Jacobowitz from being installed as supervisor until the dispute is settled.