The on-again, off-again listing of Ralph Nader's name on Pennsylvania's ballots has prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to seek an emergency order to force Pennsylvania to send corrected absentee ballots to voters overseas and to extend by two weeks the period for the ballot returns.

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But the state intends today to oppose the federal request, despite the fact that many counties, including Allegheny, have sent ballots overseas with and without Nader's name, said Brian McDonald, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of State.

"We feel that we have abided by the law and we have done everything required by the statute," McDonald said. "[The ballots] were valid at the time they were delivered. We feel we have taken due diligence to do everything the right way."

About half the 5,000 ballots Allegheny County sent to military personnel and civilians overseas in the past six weeks have Nader's name on them and the rest do not, said Mark Wolosik, the county's elections director.

The Justice Department cited the confusion in Pennsylvania's overseas absentee ballots as a reason a judge should force the state to abide by the terms of its request contained in documents filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Harrisburg.

The department asked to have the deadline for overseas ballots extended to Nov. 17 or long enough so that the time from when they are sent out and returned is 30 days. Now, all absentee ballots in Pennsylvania must be returned by Friday, Oct. 29.

Though the county has sent out ballots with and without Nader's name, Wolosik said, he is not sure what to do because of the shifting status of Nader's name on the ballot

Commonwealth Court yesterday ordered Nader's name removed from the ballot, but Nader's supporters have said they will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, which could further muddy the absentee ballot issue because next Tuesday is the deadline for mailing domestic absentee ballots.

"It's interesting," Wolosik said. "You never know what will happen."

Patricia Saxton was concerned last week that she wouldn't receive her absentee ballot at her home in the Turks and Caicos Islands to return it in time for the Nov. 2 election, so she called the Allegheny County Division of Elections to see when it would be mailed out. She said it sometimes take four or five weeks for mail to reach her from the United States.

As it turned out, Saxton received the handwritten write-in ballot the same day, but more than two weeks after it was mailed. She sent the ballot back to her sister in Pine by Federal Express to make sure it would count on Election Day.

The federal government contends the court's failure to order the state to extend the filing date and to send out corrected absentee ballots will deprive voters overseas, including military personnel, of their right to vote.

The government said it filed the emergency request in federal court after its lawyers were unable to resolve the issue with state officials.

The confusion of Nader's name on the ballot has resulted in a mixture of ballots in elections departments statewide.

The first absentee ballots sent overseas at the end of August, for those in remote locations, had Nader's name on them. But after Commonwealth Court ruled Aug. 30 that Nader was not qualified to run in Pennsylvania, his name was removed.

For the next three weeks, overseas ballots were mailed without Nader's name. But on Sept. 20 the state Supreme Court reversed the ruling and sent the case back to Commonwealth Court.

Nader's name returned until yesterday's decision.

In Washington County, elections workers will work today to affix address labels on envelopes for absentee ballots in preparation to mail the ballots when the issue is resolved, elections director Larry Spahr said. The county has two sets of ballots ready to go -- one with Nader's name and one without his name, Spahr said.