Consumer advocate and political candidate Ralph Nader's lawsuit against Hawai'i elections officials for keeping him off election ballots in 2004 went to trial in federal court yesterday just as Nader is launching a new national campaign for the U.S. presidency.

Nader filed the suit here in 2004 after elections officials ruled repeatedly that his campaign volunteers had failed to gather the necessary number of valid signatures — 3,711 bona fide registered voters — to place his name on the presidential ballot here.

Similar legal complaints that he filed in state court were rejected. Those rulings by Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna were appealed to the Hawai'i Supreme Court, which has yet to rule.

U.S. Senior District Judge Alan C. Kay is presiding over a non-jury trial in the federal case, which is expected to finish this morning with closing arguments from Nader's lawyer, Eric Seitz, and Deputy Attorney General Aaron Schulaner, who represents the state Office of Elections.

Seitz argued that procedures followed by elections personnel to verify the identities of signatories on the Nader ballot petition were "arbitrary and capricious" and that little effort was made to decipher difficult-to-read information included on the petition.

Seitz also represents another candidate whose name was excluded from the 2004 election ballots here, Michael Petrouka of the Constitution Party, a conservative national political party with headquarters on the East Coast.

Robert Stiver, who headed the Nader campaign effort here in 2004, and David Porter, head of the Petrouka campaign here, both testified yesterday about repeated efforts they made to convince elections officials that they had collected the requisite number of valid signatures on ballot petitions they gathered.

Stiver, a retired federal worker, acknowledged outside court that the Nader political campaign got off to "a very late start" in Hawai'i in 2004.

"I've been an admirer of his," Stiver said of Nader, "and when he announced his candidacy in 2004, I e-mailed the campaign and said I would help them in Hawai'i if I could."

Nader visited the state in July of that year and "he asked me (to) head up the effort here," Stiver said.

"I had never been involved in anything like that before and by the middle of July, it was already too late to get started," he said yesterday.

Nader announced last month that he intends to campaign again for the presidency.

Stiver said yesterday he's "too old now" for campaign work but is still a Nader supporter.

"I'll vote for him if gets on the ballot this time," he said.

In 2004, Nader managed to get his name on presidential ballots in 34 states. The campaign became enmeshed in numerous legal fights over ballot issues around the country.

Nader garnered a total of 468,000 votes nationally in 2004 — fewer than four-tenths of 1 percent of the total votes cast.

In 2000, Nader received 3 percent of the popular vote while running as the candidate of the Green Party. Many Democrats accused him of draining away support that could have ensured the election for Democrat Al Gore that year.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.