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OTTAWA — The Federal Court has rejected a bid by the Conservatives to prevent federal election results in a handful of tightly contested ridings from being overturned.

The Tories argued in court last month against an application by the Council of Canadians to support a review of the May 2011 election results in seven ridings, dismissing it as baseless and having been filed too late.

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But in its ruling Thursday, the court found no reason to reject the case — at least not at this stage.

“It cannot be concluded that the applications are ’utterly devoid of merit’ so as to warrant their summary dismissal,” Federal Court Justice Martha Milczynski wrote in her decision.

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The council alleges the outcome of last year’s election was influenced by misleading or harassing phone calls — so-called “robocalling” — in seven ridings across Canada where Conservative MPs narrowly won their seats.