In one of three instrumental lawsuits pending in Florida courts, the high court is considering Al Gore’e election contest and two county judges weigh arguments on absentee ballots.

“I think [the Florida Supreme Court] has given Gore the benefit of the doubt with the extending of their ruling, and it didn’t pan out for Gore for one reason or another,” said Aaron Fister, junior in management information systems.

Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science, said he does not believe Gore has a good chance of overturning Florida’s votes, which were certified in favor of Republican candidate George W. Bush.

“I think it doesn’t look very good for Gore, but Gore has said that he doesn’t think this case will be an end to the situation because he has a couple of other cases in Florida which are still out there,” Schmidt said.

The U.S. Supreme Court referred the judgment back to Florida’s high court earlier this week, asking for a clarification on the case.

“I personally think when the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to the Florida Supreme Court, it put a lot of pressure on the Florida Supreme Court,” Fister said. “But others think it is a good thing, because it allows the Florida Supreme Court to clarify their decision.”

Another set of court cases in Florida’s Seminole and Martin counties are debating a possible mishandling of absentee ballot-request forms.

“I think these cases could lead somewhere,” Schmidt said. “There are some questions being asked in these cases that are different than in other cases. If these courts rule in Gore’s favor, it could keep everything up in the air.”

However, Fister said he does not think these cases will lead to anything major in the election, but the consideration the cases have been given will grant legitimacy to the eventual winner.

“I don’t know when this is going to end in the courts because if Bush loses, he will appeal, and if Gore loses he will appeal,” Fister said. “I think the appeals will be good if Bush wins because it will show that we explored every aspect and he was the winner.”

The Florida Legislature called a special session today to put in place a plan that would make sure Florida has electors in place by the Dec. 12 deadline.

“All the Florida Legislature is doing is giving more ammunition to the Democrats, and I think it will take away from a Bush victory,” Fister said.

Fister said there are already 25 certified electors, and there is no point in calling this session. However, Schmidt said the state legislature is taking the right action.

“I think what the Florida Legislature is doing is important,” he said. “The reason is, the Florida Legislature does have the right to allocate the electors.”