Today the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a request by Ralph Nader to place his name on the ballot.

Nader wanted the court to force election boards to review their voter registration lists, a process Nader said could have led to the validation of petitions to place him on the ballot.

The court ruled six-to-one against Nader, saying his campaign waited too long to raise its concerns.

Nader had argued that a backlog of applications prevented boards from confirming valid signatures on his petitions.

The court’s decision is available to read here. You can also read all the relevant briefs on the Nader Ohio issue at Andrew Hyman’s website.

The campaign is appealing this decision to the US Supreme Court, which is already meeting today to consider Nader’s Pennsylvania appeal.

Ballot Access News editor Richard Winger wrote an op-ed opposing California’s Proposition 62 in today’s San Jose Mercury News. The newspaper previously endorsed a vote in favor of the measure.

Proposition 62 would enact a Louisiana-style election system where only the top two candidates in the primary would appear on the November ballot, regardless of party. This would result in third parties rarely appearing on the November ballot in California.

A website devoted to the details of the Ohio Nader ballot access litigation has just been established at think link. Ohio’s Supreme Court is still considering whether to put Nader on the ballot. The issues are whether the state’s petition-checking procedures are so hopelessly flawed; and whether it is constitutional to ban out-of-state circulators.