A lawyer is asking North Dakota's Supreme Court to put his name on the November ballot to run against one of the court's incumbent justices.

Robert V. Bolinske wants the Supreme Court to order Secretary of State Al Jaeger to list him as a challenger to Justice Daniel Crothers, who is running unopposed to serve the four years left on the term of former Justice William Neumann.

Colette Bruggman, the Supreme Court's deputy clerk, said Monday that Bolinske's request was being processed. Bolinske wants the Supreme Court to invoke its original jurisdiction, which means the justices would hear arguments without first having the case reviewed by a district judge.

The Supreme Court rarely uses its original jurisdiction authority, and the justices are not obliged to grant Bolinske a hearing.

Jaeger said he hoped the dispute is resolved soon because state law requires him to finalize the November statewide ballot lineup by Wednesday. Absentee ballots need to be printed in less than three weeks, he said.

"I don't know how quickly this is going to happen," Jaeger said. "We'll just have to see if the court agrees with (Bolinske), or agrees with our position."

Jaeger has refused to list Bolinske on the statewide ballot because he did not run in the June primary election. Candidates for nonpartisan offices, including judges and county commissioners, must run in the primary to be eligible for the fall race unless there is a vacancy on the ticket, Jaeger said.

Bolinske said health problems precluded him from running in the June primary.

In a court filing delivered to the Supreme Court on Monday, he argued that his candidacy should be allowed because Crothers has no challenger. A candidate running unopposed is the same thing as having a ballot vacancy, Bolinske wrote.