CHICAGO (Reuters) - For want of a small change to the Illinois election law, President Bush's name is not supposed to be on the state's November ballot, but officials said one way or another, it will be there.

The glitch arose because the Illinois legislature adjourned earlier this week without extending the Aug. 30 deadline for presidential candidates to be certified by the state elections board and qualify for the Nov. 2 ballot.

The relatively late dates of this year's Republican Party convention, running Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, mean that Bush will not be the official nominee until after the deadline set in state law. Eight other states had the same problem but fixed the date. As a result Illinois, is the only state where Bush could be left off the ballot.

But Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, indicated the problem must be fixed somehow. "President Bush has to be on the ballot," he said.

Illinois' Democratic-majority legislature is expected to hold an overtime session soon that will require a three-fifths majority to enact any legislation -- including a change in the ballot rule.

"We're confident he is going to be on the ballot," said Illinois Republican Party spokesman Jason Gerwig. "There are plenty of options out there to ensure that he is. This isn't a last-ditch effort."

Gerwig said that if the legislature fails to act, the party is prepared to appeal to the elections board, the state attorney general and, finally, the federal courts.

So why didn't the Republican National Committee simply schedule the convention to take place before the Illinois deadline (and the deadlines of eight other states)? They should have been able to manage it - their conventions have been held before August 30th for over 150 years. Here's a hint: the upcoming Republican National Convention is also the first to be held in New York City in over 150 years.

Some Illinois Democrats skipped the high road on this one - they attached several advantageous riders to the bill to get Bush on the ballot. It's the kind of thing that makes politics look more like a slugfest than statesmanship, but it's hard to forget that Illinois Republicans wouldn't be on the wrong end of the legislative billy club if Bush and the RNC hadn't been so ready to exploit September 11th.