Nader News Update

Some recent Ralph Nader ballot developments:

• The US Supreme Court refused to hear a case challenging the Oregon Supreme Court's decision blocking Ralph Nader from appearing on the state's ballot in November. So it looks like he'll remain off in Oregon.
• The New Mexico Supreme Court ordered Nader onto the ballot there.
• A state judge in Maine has decided to allow him to remain on that state's ballot.
• The Secretary of State of Ohio disqualified thousands of signatures turned in by Nader as forgeries, resulting in fewer than the required 5,000 valid signatures. He's off there.

As a result, Nader's ballot access around the country is as follows:

On the Ballot in 32 states: AL, AK, CO, CT, DE, IA, FL, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, WA, WV, WY

Legal Challenges Pending in 5 states: AR, ID, PA, TX, WI

Did Not Qualify for Ballot in 13 states: AZ, CA, GA, HI, IL, IN, MA, MO, NC, OH, OK, OR, VA

Check out www.stopnader.com for ongoing updates. A great analysis on the site takes Nader's 2000 vote percentage, 2.73%, and figures out that if that support level holds in the states that he'll actually be on ballots, the maximum percentage he can hope to receive nationwide in November is just 1.46%. But since Nader supporters are suffering from a much needed case of pragmatitis this year, we can expect support levels to drop even below that.