Ralph Nader belongs on the presidential ballot in Maine.

Many Democrats are upset because Republicans openly – and effectively – worked to win Nader his place among the others running for president, hoping he would siphon enough votes away from Democratic candidate John Kerry to push Maine into the win column for President Bush.

Those efforts prompted state Democrats to challenge the signatures collected on Nader’s behalf. A hearing officer in the secretary of state’s office last week recommended that 4,124 signatures for Nader be accepted. It’s up to Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky to make a final decision today. He should let Nader run.

Democrats are right to be upset. Maine is one of 18 battleground states this campaign season. Al Gore won here in 2000 with 49 percent of the vote to Bush’s 44 percent. Nader, running as a Green Independent, captured almost 6 percent.

In a close race, even a small shift could swing Maine’s four electoral votes. Nader could have that effect, although we don’t believe he will draw anywhere near the number of votes he did last time around.

Ballot access laws do not prevent “spoiler” candidates from running, and we wouldn’t want them to. Maine requires candidates to collect 4,000 verifiable signatures to be listed as a candidate for president. Basically, anyone who does that, follows the rules and is eligible to be president, gets a spot. There is no requirement that only a candidate’s supporters sign the petitions, or that a candidate have a real shot of winning. Collect the signatures and get on the ballot.

According to the secretary of state’s office, the ballot is already pretty crowded. In addition to Bush, Kerry and Nader, the Green Independent Party has nominated David Cobb – whose running mate is Mainer Pat LaMarche. Constitution Party candidate Michael A. Peroutka will be on the ballot, as will Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik.

Republicans didn’t hesitate to use Nader’s candidacy as a tool to hurt Kerry, even though the strategy smells like a cheap political ploy.

Democrats are playing hardball on ballot access. Nader could hurt their candidate on Nov. 2, and they’re fighting to keep him out of the race. Already he’s on the ballot in Florida, West Virginia and a number of other key states. He’s been denied a spot in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Missouri, Arizona and Virginia. In Maine, the law is on Nader’s side.

We believe both Republicans and Democrats would have been better off spending their time and effort working for their own guy instead of for or against Nader. Sadly, in the total war politics of today, no tactic appears out of bounds and no adversary goes unchallenged.

Voters have the ultimate responsibility in determining who they will vote for. They should be savvy enough to determine for themselves the ramifications of their vote, be it cast for Nader, Peroutka, Badnarik, Cobb, Kerry or Bush.