Nonetheless, Carnahan was a cadaver.
And Ashcroft COULD have sued and won in court --- since Carnahan could not handle the single most basic requirement of office, namely living in MO.
-=Mike
He could have possibly won.
But Mel Carnahan met all the requirements at the filing deadline and the deadline to withdraw. And when his term began, his wife was appointed (effective at the beginning of the term) to fill his seat until 2002.
Hale Boggs and Nick Begich (to name two) won re-election after dying in a plane crash. Special elections were held to fill their seats. In those cases, they wouldn't be citizens of their states if Carnahan wasn't.
I don't think there's legal precedent for Ashcroft to sue and get re-elected on those grounds. Plus, it'd be unpopular in the state.
The St. Louis in 2000 incident was unusual. I've also heard some claims that they closed that one station early. But then again, it wasn't a deciding factor in Carnahan, nor Bob Holden's victories.
(Remember, Holden's margin of victory in the Governors race over Jim Talent was 21,000 votes. Carnahan beat Ashcroft by 49,000 votes)
Something makes me really doubt that 49,000 people voted at one polling station in the 90 minutes (or so) that it was open