I had not heard this mentioned in a while, and I had assumed the problem had been solved. This evening, I found THIS POST from Left Coast Conservative, and he links a Thomas Roeser column in the Chicago Sun Times letting us know that the problem is still extant.

State law in Illinois requires that the ballots be certified the August before an election. The Republicans will not have their convention, thus won’t have an official nominee, until September. This means, all things staying the same, the GOP candidate for President of the United States will not be on the November ballot in Illinois. This despite the fact that the Republican candidate for President of the United States will be the President of the United States. (Unless either John Anderson or John McCain tries to pull something.)

Roeser concludes:

Nobody asked me, but I say there should be no compromise: no give on the fines, no give on already-lenient election law. Let the unsurpassed arrogance of power stand. It will carry a backlash. Which means that those who so eagerly will do anything to color Illinois Democrat-blue for president, may confront a voter rebellion brimming with disgust. If Bush has to fight for Illinois on a write-in with one hand tied behind his back, he just could win. TV screens on Nov. 2, 2004, could show Illinois swabbed in Republican red — to match the burning embarrassment on Democrats’ faces.