During the controversy after the 2000 presidential election, Democrats cried "count every vote." Unsuccessful with that strategy, the Maine Democratic Party is now trying to limit the choices Maine voters see on their ballots.

Democrats came away from the 2000 election convinced that Ralph Nader had cost their party the White House. Because George W. Bush's margin of victory in Florida and New Hampshire was less than the number of votes Nader received in those states, Democrats believe that Al Gore would have won those states, and the presidency, if Nader had not been on the ballot. Democrats vowed not to let the same thing happen in 2004.

In 2000, Nader was on the ballot in 44 states and received a total of nearly 3 million votes. In, 2004, Democrats in 18 states challenged Nader's ballot access. In part due to these challenges, Nader was on the ballot in only 34 states in 2004.

In Maine, Nader's ballot status was unsuccessfully challenged by the then-chairman of the Maine Democratic Party. Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky overruled the challenge from his own party and that decision was upheld in court. In the end, Nader had little impact on the 2004 election nationally or in Maine.

Undeterred by the results of their 2004 challenge, the Maine Democratic Party is back at it this year. The party's new target is Herbert Hoffman.

You may wonder, who is Herbert Hoffman and why does he so concern the Maine Democratic Party?

Hoffman is a retired psychologist and former Democrat who is running for the U.S. Senate. Hoffman believes that both incumbent Sen. Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger Rep. Tom Allen have not held the Bush administration accountable. He takes both candidates to task on issues such as the war in Iraq, health care and the Patriot Act.

Though Hoffman's left-wing platform is one that may be attractive to many Democrats, he is no Nader. He is a complete unknown and is unlikely to raise the money needed to change that between now and November.

Do you remember William Slavick, Dexter Kamilewicz, Carl Cooley, J. Frederic Staples, Eric Greiner, William Clarke or Aldric Saucier? Probably not, but they were all independent or third-party candidates for the U.S. House or Senate in Maine since 1996, and all finished their race without having any impact on its outcome. Hoffman is likely to be another name on that long list.

But Maine Democrats are not so sure. They came into 2008 with high hopes that Rep. Tom Allen could end the Republican Party's grip on Maine's U.S. Senate seats.

So far, their hopes look misplaced. Despite the GOP's problems nationally, Collins has shown a solid lead in every public poll and in fundraising, while the Allen campaign has been lackluster. With a narrow upset Allen's only chance at victory, Democrats see Hoffman as a threat.

As soon as Hoffman filed his petitions, Democratic headquarters leapt into action. They spent many hours investigating his signatures and engaged one of Maine's largest law firms to file a challenge on behalf of the party chairman. A hearing was held by the Secretary of State's office and, though a number of signatures were disqualified, Secretary of State Matt Dunlap -- a Democratic elected by the Democratic majority in the Legislature -- ruled that Hoffman had collected enough valid signatures to earn a place on the November ballot. Unsatisfied, the Democrats have appealed the decision to Superior Court.

The substance of their challenge is that Dunlap misapplied the law in disqualifying only three signatures of voters who testified that they did not sign the petition in Hoffman's presence.

The Democrats argue that the law requires that all the signatures on the petition in question be disqualified, which would leave Hoffman short of the 4,000 signatures required for a place on the ballot.

One of those who testified that he signed Hoffman's petition when Hoffman was not present was state Rep. Herb Adams, D-Portland, which raises the question of why a Democratic state representative from Allen's hometown would sign Hoffman's petition.

In the end, the fact remains that Hoffman collected the signatures necessary to be on the ballot and I am confident the courts will uphold the Secretary of State's decision.

What makes this episode important is not the challenge itself, but what the challenge says about a party that once screamed "count every vote" and now goes to such lengths to try to keep votes from even being cast.

Dan Billings is a Republican activist and commentator. He practices law in Waterville. He can be reached at dib9@aol.com.