10:44 PM PDT on Wednesday, September 1, 2004

From KING5.com, KGW.com Staff and Wire Reports

AP Ralph Nader

SEATTLE - Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader’s last ditch effort to make the Oregon ballot failed, but Nader will be on the ballot in Washington.

Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury announced Wednesday that Nader fell about 200 signatures short of the requirement to get him on the ballot this fall.

Also, many of the signature sheets were improperly numbered after names were certified by the counties but before reaching the secretary of state’s office, weren’t numbered at all, or weren’t properly signed and dated. Bradbury said the state law is "crystal clear" that petition sheets have to be numbered before they're turned in to county clerks for signature checking.

“Any alteration of public documents opens the door for fraud, and threatens the integrity of the elections process,” Bradbury said.

He said state law is "remarkably clear" in saying that no signatures in violation of the law can be counted.

A quick court appeal by Nader backers was considered likely. Bradbury is required to certify the ballot by Sept. 8.

Nader and vice-presidential candidate Sandra Kucera needed 15,306 signatures to qualify for the Oregon ballot. But his campaign turned in 15,306 signatures last week.

Both parties viewed Nader as a potential spoiler who could draw votes away from Democratic nominee John Kerry and help President Bush in Oregon this fall. In the last president election, Al Gore won Oregon by only a few thousand votes while Nader garnered more than 70,000 votes in the state.

Nader’s failure to make the Ore. ballot came on the heels of another setback in Idaho, where he also did not make the ballot there last week.

Nader’s signature gathering effort was marred by charges from his campaign director that Democrats were attempting to sabotage the independent candidate’s efforts to make the ballot.

The secretary of state said he expects his decision to be criticized because he's a Democrat but that, "I really was left with no choice but to uphold the law."

The Nader campaign used paid petition circulators in his third failed effort this year to get on the ballot in Oregon.

Meanwhile, Nader’s opponents filed numerous complaints to the secretary of state’s office, including the charge that the petition sheets were altered before arriving in Salem.

In the meantime, Nader will be on the November ballot in Washington state as an Independent candidate for president, the secretary of state's office said Wednesday.

Nader, longtime thorn in the side of Democrats, won 4 percent of the vote in Washington in 2000.

Nader's campaign submitted 1,983 signatures to get him on the ballot, the secretary of state's office said. The minimum required is 1,000.

So far, Nader has gotten on the ballot in at least 13 states and in Washington, D.C.

Many people believe Nader cost Al Gore the election in 2000, and some Democrats fear it will happen again this year. Nader's campaign has gotten strong financial support from some Republicans.

In an AP poll of Washington state Democratic delegates before the Democratic National Convention in July, 19 percent said they believed Nader could cost Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry the election this year.

Nader has criticized both parties. When he declared his candidacy in February, Nader said he wanted to "join with all Americans who wish to declare their independence from corporate rule and its expanding domination."