WASHINGTON — The Obama administration wants the Supreme Court to hear a case pertaining to the 2010 health care reform law.

The request makes it near certain that the nation’s highest court will soon agree to hear one or more cases involving challenges to the law.

Arguments are anticipated to be made by the spring, with a decision expected by June amid the 2012 presidential campaign.

The Justice Department said the justices should hear its appeal of a decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, sitting in Atlanta, that struck down the centerpiece of the law by a 2-to-1 vote.

“The department has consistently and successfully defended this law in several courts of appeals, and only the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled it unconstitutional,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “We believe the question is appropriate for review by the Supreme Court.

State ballot boxes are becoming skirmishing grounds in efforts to impede the law. In November, Ohio voters will decide on an amendment to their constitution that is aimed at undercutting the Affordable Care Act, joining four states that considered similar measures last year and at least four additional states that are scheduled to vote next year, according to the National Conference of State ­Legislatures.

Aimed at the reform law’s so-called "individual mandate" requiring people to buy health coverage, the proposed Ohio amendment says that no federal, state or local law or rule “shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer or health care provider to participate in a health care system.” It also would not allow bans or penalties on the sale and purchase of health care or health insurance.