 In some cases, state officials found large numbers of submitted voter petitions invalid.While Nader campaign officials blamed legal challenges by the Democratic Party for their difficulties in getting Nader's name on the ballot, the difficulties faced by petition-gatherers were also a significant factor – there were far fewer people in 2004 eager to sign petitions for Ralph Nader, and petition-gatherers complained that they often received verbal abuse from people they solicited.One of Nader's California organizers observed that "paid signature gatherers did not work for more than a week or two.