By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostA judge has denied the request of a St. Joseph at-large city council candidate to throw out certain ballots cast in the municipal primary election, which could lead to a recount that could certify him as winning the seat outright.Kenton Randolph fell just short of the total needed to win the seat and had challenged the results, arguing that ballots cast February 8th that had no at-large candidate selected be tossed, which could provide him the margin needed to win the seat outright.Seven voters cast blank ballots.Buchanan County Circuit Judge Kate Schaefer turned down his request.Randolph came in second in the city primary election, receiving 3,924 votes out of 7,863 votes cast, just short of the votes needed to win a seat outright. Randy Schultz won an at-large seat outright by receiving 4,054 votes, a majority of the votes cast.Randolph will be on the ballot along with Marty Novak, Jeff Schomburg, Brenda Blessing, Kenneth Reeder, and Kent "Spanky" O'Dell for three at-large seats to be decided in the April 5th city General Election.