Ballston Spa

Republican Paul Sausville won re-election as Malta town supervisor by a single vote Thursday after a Saratoga County judge threw out two absentee votes for the opponent because they contained handwriting on the back of the ballots.

State Supreme Court Justice Robert J. Chauvin, a Republican, ruled the two ballots cast for Democrat Cynthia Young contained inadmissible writing and were therefore ineligible for counting. The decision swung the hard-fought election to Sausville by a vote of 1,582 to 1,581. He will serve a fifth, two-year term pending any appeal by Young.

"I'm delighted," said Sausville, who also survived a primary challenge in September. "We've worked hard over the last nine months in a very grueling election process that left the community and the party divided."

On the two contested ballots, voters clearly checked off Young as their selection for town supervisor. But they crossed out voting marks they made on statewide proposals listed on the ballots' flip sides and wrote "no vote." One voter also etched what appeared to be his or her initials near the notation.

On Wednesday, James Walsh, an attorney retained by Sausville and the Saratoga County Republican Party, contested the two ballots during a proceeding before Chauvin. Walsh said prior judicial decisions make clear that writing on ballots invalidates the entire document.

Young's attorney, Kathleen O'Keefe, who was retained by the Saratoga County Democratic Party, disagreed. She argued the written words should have disqualified only the voters' choices for the proposals they marked, not the entire ballot.

Chauvin sided with Walsh, citing past decisions. The judge said he recognized the serious impact of not allowing the votes to count, but he was bound to apply the law.

"Of course, I'm very disappointed in the outcome," Young said Thursday in the courtroom. "I feel pretty strongly those two voters were disenfranchised. Their clear intent was to vote for me."

Asked if they would appeal Chauvin's decision, Young deferred comment to O'Keefe, who said they were considering their options. "I'm proud of the campaign I did run," Young said. "I got 50 percent of the vote in a town that is Republican 2 to 1."

Thursday ended a remarkable comeback by Sausville, who bounced back from 13 votes down during the counting of 123 absentee and affidavit ballots. The result means Sausville will govern Malta and likely the GOP-controlled county Board of Supervisors in 2014. He is in line to succeed Charlton Supervisor Alan Grattidge.

"If chosen, I'll work hard for them," Sausville said. The supervisor also said he would work to bring Malta together because the primary and general elections had taken a toll.

"The community needs to mend itself, and we all need to work together for the town." He said he will tackle three issues during his next term: traffic, growth and keeping taxes low.

Chauvin, who was elected to the bench two years ago, has himself been the subject of recent controversy.

In August, Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III asked the state attorney general's office to investigate questions about Chauvin's business dealings that were highlighted in an Aug. 11 Times Union story.

Murphy told the attorney general that his referral was based on a request for an investigation from Todd M. Kerner, chairman of the Saratoga County Democratic Committee.

The Times Union reported that Chauvin, while employed as a Halfmoon town attorney and Saratoga County assistant district attorney, allegedly took steps to conceal from the public his financial interests in several major residential development projects in Halfmoon. The land deals are also being examined by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, according to a knowledgeable source.

dyusko@timesunion.com • 518-454-5353 • @DAYusko