SPRINGFIELD - Ralph Nader filed more than 50,000 signatures Monday in a bid to earn a spot on Illinois' November presidential ballot.

Along with presumed major-party candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, Nader, 78, will run with Matt Gonzalez as Independent candidates. U.S. Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, has been nominated by the Libertarians. Darrell Castle of Florida, and Charles Baldwin of Tennessee are running on the Constitution Party ballot. Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Georgia, is expected to run as a candidate for the Green Party.

On Monday, a contingent of Illinois' third-party advocates filed petitions for the Nader-Gonzalez campaign, with an emphasis on freeing the reins of Illinois' often constrained two-party election process, said Christina Tobin, who is coordinating ballot access issues for Nader.

"I see absolutely no difference between both (Republican and Democrat) parties," Tobin said. "There are no limits of what they will go to, to try to keep third-parties and independents off the ballots."

The campaign's goal is to land on 45 states' presidential ballots.

Earning a spot on Illinois' ballot continues to be a goal of Nader supporters, despite Obama's firm political handle on his home state. Nader's petition could still be challenged. He won a spot on the ballot in 2000, but was booted off the ballot in 2004.

"We're not running in the easy states and putting off the hard states," said Nader campaign spokesman Chris Driscoll. "We're not going to ignore Illinois and Arizona, we'll be putting out an announcement tomorrow that we're definitely on the ballot in Arizona."

The party continues to fight the idea that Nader's participation in the 2000 election cost former vice president Al Gore the election against President Bush.

Charlie Howe, a Green Party candidate for Illinois representative, said those who blame Nader for Gore's loss are "looking at it from the point of view of a political party and not the point of view of the citizens of the United States."

Kartikay Mehrotra can be reached at kartikay.mehrotra@lee.net or 789-0865.