HARRISBURG, Pa. – A state court knocked Ralph Nader off Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot yesterday, citing thousands of fraudulent signatures including “Mickey Mouse” and “Fred Flintstone.”

Describing the petitions as “rife with forgeries,” Commonwealth Court President Judge James Gardner Colins said that fewer than 19,000 of the more than 51,000 signatures that Mr. Nader’s supporters submitted were valid. Mr. Nader needed at least 25,697 to be listed on the ballot as an independent candidate.

“I am compelled to emphasize that this signature-gathering process was the most deceitful and fraudulent exercise ever perpetrated upon this court,” Judge Colins said in a 15-page ruling that followed a two-week review in multiple courtrooms across the state.

“The conduct of the candidates, through their representatives (not their attorneys), shocks the conscience of the court,” he said. “In reviewing signatures, it became apparent that, in addition to signing names such as ‘Mickey Mouse,’ ‘Fred Flintstone,’ ‘John Kerry,’ and the ubiquitous ‘Ralph Nader,’ there were thousands of names that were created at random and then randomly assigned either existent or nonexistent addresses by the circulators.”

The signature review was prompted by a court challenge filed by a group of voters sympathetic to Senator Kerry.

Democrats have had mixed success in their effort to keep Mr. Nader off the ballot in battleground states where they fear he could siphon votes from John Kerry. Besides Pennsylvania, he failed to make the ballot in Ohio, Oregon, and Missouri. Overall, Mr. Nader will be on the ballot in 34 states and the District of Columbia.