Nader suit against '04 Democrats rejected

Court: Candidate filed case too late, beyond statute of limitations

Video

Nader: 'I'm not afraid to keep losing'
Oct. 20, 2008: While many have long ago rejected him as a viable presidential candidate, Ralph Nader has continued to campaign, offering voters an alternative to what he calls "corporate" candidates. NBC's Ron Allen reports.

Nightly News

NBC Video: Politics

Tea partiers have no shame
Nov. 25: A couple who lost their daughter-in-law and unborn grandchild due to health issues and a lack of insurance was heckled at a recent town hall. Midge and Dan Huff talk to msnbc’s Ed Schultz. The Huffington Post’s Roy Sekoff offers analysis.

Obama's Afghanistan decision a done deal

Obama fires up climate target ahead of summit

Countdown to Obama’s Afghan announcement

Public option a barrier to reform?

Slideshow

First 100 days
Striking images from President Barack Obama’s jam-packed first 100 days in office.

more photos

INTERACTIVE

Get political at Newsvine
Read, rate and discuss the latest news.

updated 12:00 p.m. ET June 9, 2009

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected Ralph Nader's attempt to sue Democrats who he says conspired to keep him off the ballot in the 2004 presidential election.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia says Nader's 2007 suit was filed too late, beyond the statute of limitations.

The consumer advocate and 2004 independent presidential candidate had named as defendants the Democratic National Committee, Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign and the Democratic lawmaker himself. Nader supported his allegations with a series of newspapers articles that quoted Democratic officials saying they did not want a repeat of the 2000 election, when Nader drew votes that they believe would have gone to Al Gore and cost the Democrats the election.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Among other claims, the lawsuit alleged that the Democratic Party tried to bankrupt Nader's campaign by suing to keep him off the ballot in 18 states. It also says former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe offered to support Nader's campaign in some states if he'd drop his campaign in the battlegrounds.

McAuliffe was on the ballot Tuesday in the Virginia gubernatorial primary.

Nader received 463,653 votes in the 2004 election, or 0.38 percent of total votes cast. Kerry lost the election to President George W. Bush, who won a second term.

Nader said he filed the lawsuit to make sure other independent and third party candidates would not be subject to the same kind of conspiracy in the future.

Click for related content

Ralph Nader running for president
Nader's effect on Decision 2004
First Read: Nader becoming a caricature of himself?