The Ohio Supreme Court on Friday rejected a move by Ralph Nader to get on the Ohio ballot, further reducing the chance that his third-party presidential candidacy will be a factor in the battleground state.
The court ruled 6 to 1 that Nader's backers waited too long to raise objections about the way nominating petitions were being processed. Objections to petitions designed to put Nader on the ballot in Ohio had left him short of the required number.
Nader issued a statement saying he planned to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, though it was not clear if that process could be completed before the Nov. 2 election.
Earlier this week Nader lost a separate plea for ballot access in a federal appeals court decision.
Democrats maintain that Nader's entry in the 2004 race takes votes away from Democrat John Kerry and favors President Bush, and warn of a repeat of 2000.
Nader drew 2.7 percent of the popular vote nationally in 2000 and was widely believed to have cost Democrat Al Gore the election in the decisive state of Florida. In Ohio in 2000 he won 3 percent of the vote.