Past and present U.S. presidential candidate Ralph Nader has lost his Hawai'i Supreme Court challenge to state election law.

Nader filed companion lawsuits in state and federal court here in 2004 after state elections officials ruled that petitions to place his name on Hawai'i election ballots that year did not contain enough verifiable signatures of Hawai'i registered voters.

Nader and another 2004 presidential candidate, Michael Petrouka of the Constitution Party, complained that legal restrictions on the gathering and verification of voter signatures on candidacy petitions unfairly blocked them from standing for national office in Hawai'i.

They further argued that the appeals process conducted by the state Elections Office was so flawed that they were denied their constitutional rights to due process.

Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna rejected those claims in 2005, and both candidates appealed to the state Supreme Court.

The court rejected the appeals this week in a 17-page unanimous decision written by Justice Paula Nakayama.

The ruling effectively nullifies the companion lawsuit filed in federal court.

Earlier this month, Senior U.S. District Judge Alan Kay conducted a two-day nonjury trial in the federal suit. The judge called the trial "a safety net" proceeding because it concerned issues affecting the upcoming national election ballots that had not yet been decided by the Hawai'i Supreme Court.

He informed the parties in the case after the trial was over that he "deemed it prudent and appropriate to defer from making any ruling until the Hawai'i Supreme Court issues its decision."

Kay say he would rule only if the state high court did not issue its decision by June 2.

Robert Stiver, who headed the Nader campaign effort here in 2004, said after the federal trial that the intent of the lawsuits was not "to invalidate the 2004 election."

He said the petition procedures that candidates like Nader must follow to gain access to the Hawai'i ballot are "onerous, inconsistent and arbitrary/capricious."

"We want the playing field leveled for 2008" and beyond, Stiver said.