The ballot box feud being waged in a Seminole County, Florida courtroom isn't likely to help Vice President Al Gore in his legal bid to claim the Oval Office, says UGA law professor Ron Carlson, a nationally renowned trial law expert. Dead people did not vote. Absent a showing of fraud, the votes will not be thrown out. Two specific problems confront Gore. First, if there was a negligent but non-malevolent oversight by the election supervisor in allowing others to put numbers on the ballot, the ballot is voided only if the will of the voter is subverted.
Nobody says that occurred.
Carlson says there might be a case to sanction some election officials, but little legal basis to throw out the ballots. But appeals from bench trials are much more limited and much less successful than those from jury trials. The Florida Supreme Court has much less leeway to give Al Gore a favorable decision. Carlson, a nationally recognized expert in trial practice, has litigated many cases and has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He has written numerous books on trial techniques and provided extensive commentary for the national media in high-profile trials.