Ritchie has started the wheels in motion at the High Court to launch an injunction against the current election process.
He has been barred from standing in the election by Ucatt officials along with rival Mick Dooley who is also looking at legal action to stop the current vote.
Ritchie was forced to step down from his role as general secretary earlier this year following complaints over the voting process by Dooley.
The latest move is another massive embarrassment for the union hierarchy as they struggle to bring credibility to an organisation rocked by voting scandals.
The current election is being fought by London regional secretary Jerry Swain and Yorkshire regional secretary Steve Murphy.
One union source said: “It’s getting ridiculous now with all these legal challenges.
“We just need to vote in a new leader and get on with the real business of representing construction workers.”
But another added:”This election must be concluded as satisfactorily as possible and not as quickly as possible.
“If the latter is the case then this will cause inherent problems in the coming years.”