Ohio's secretary of state says Ralph Nader won't be on the state's presidential ballot because of forged signatures on petition forms and petitions circulated by non-Ohioans.

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell says Tuesday the independent candidate was short of the 5,000 valid signature required to qualify.

Blackwell, a Republican, said Nader's backers wound up with 3,700 valid signatures.

They had turned in nearly 15,000 signatures, but about 6,400 were declared valid after review by local elections boards. An additional 2,700 were invalidated following a hearing last week at Blackwell's office.

Democrats blame Nader's presence on the ballot in Florida in 2000 for costing Al Gore the election. They say they're happy with Blackwell's ruling.