LISBON – Towns and villages depending on write-in votes to fill board seats will have to wait until next week to find out who won in Tuesday’s elections.

“The [U.S. Rep. William L.] Owens campaign filed a lawsuit on Monday,” St. Lawrence County Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Thomas A. Nichols said Wednesday.

Mr. Owens’s campaign had requested a court order to impound all of the ballots cast in order to ensure that they are all handled the same across the 12-county 21st Congressional District.

The order effectively means that the Board of Elections cannot give out the write-in results until they are able to count them all – by hand.

It could be as early as Friday, said Mr. Nichols, but he cautioned that it’s more likely that “it could be next week” before the final results are in.

In Lisbon, the impoundment means the town won’t know who will finish up the last year of C. Roger Shoen’s vacated four-year term. Mr. Shoen resigned in April.

“That’s the way it works,” said former St. Lawrence County Sheriff Gary J. Jarvis, one of three write-in candidates for Town Council. “You just got to hang in there and see what happens.”

“Whoever gets it, God bless,” said Marc McDonell, a retired state trooper who also ran a write-in campaign.

The third write-in candidate is Keystone Road farmer Patrick J. Green. Mr. Green could not be reached Wednesday for this story. Mr. Jarvis said he spent the last several days of the campaign getting out and talking to potential voters.

“I talked to quite a few people,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty good about it.”

Mr. McDonell said he knew Mr. Jarvis was “campaigning quite a bit” but didn’t put too much work into getting out the vote himself.

“I let people know – friends of mine to get out the vote,” said Mr. McDonell. “I know it was a good turnout in Lisbon. It will be interesting to see who wins.”

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