SAN DIEGO -- A retired judge refused Monday to intervene in the city's mayoral election, where Mayor Dick Murphy has claimed victory over a maverick city councilwoman who mounted a surprising write-in bid.

Eric Helgesen, a retired Tulare County judge, said he was unlikely to grant a request forcing the county registrar's office to count all write-in ballots, including those on which voters failed to fill in the bubble next to Councilwoman Donna Frye's name. The judge also denied a request to block the registrar's office from certifying the results.

"The court does not find that petitioners are likely to prevail in this matter," Helgesen said.

On Friday, Mayor Dick Murphy declared victory in his bid for re-election after the Registrar of Voters announced that the incumbent had collected 2,205 more votes than City Councilwoman Donna Frye.

Also Friday, retired Judge Charles E. Jones, who had been appointed to hear the lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters stemming from Frye's candidacy, was removed after Murphy's attorney -- Robert Ottilie -- filed a peremptory challenge.

"Every party is given one peremptory challenge in every case," Ottilie said.

The suit asked for "immediate" relief to stop Registrar of Voters Sally McPherson from discounting write-in ballots on which voters failed to fill in a "bubble" next to a write-in candidate's name.

"Nowhere does city law require a voter to fill in the bubble next to the write-in candidate's name in order for the vote to be counted," the lawsuit stated. "Despite this clear direction to count all write-in votes for certified city candidates, respondent has and is continuing to refuse to count such votes and include those votes in the certification of election results."

In the case of candidates whose names were printed on the ballot, filling in the bubble served to indicate a voter's preference for a particular candidate. Election rules called for the bubble to be filled in next to a write-in name as well.

Last week, Jones refused to issue an order that would have stopped the vote count altogether.

Jones ruled Frye's candidacy was "authorized" when five weeks before the election, City Clerk Charles Abdelnour gave her the go-ahead.

Any legal challenge to Frye's write-in campaign should have come then, and not after the election, the judge ruled.

A hearing is scheduled in federal court Tuesday in which U. S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez will hear arguments in a lawsuit aimed at keeping the election results from being certified.