On October 17, an Arkansas Circuit Court ruled against Dwayne Dobbins, who is trying to get on the ballot for State Representative, 39th district. Dobbins had won the Democratic primary for that office in May, but in July the Democratic Party had refused to accept his nomination, leaving the Democratic Party with no nominee on the ballot in November. Judge Chris Piazza said he would have enjoyed getting into the merits of the case, but that Dobbins filed the case too late. Dobbins had filed the case on October 10. Dobbins will now ask the Arkansas Supreme Court for relief.

The only candidate now on the ballot in November for the 39th state rep district is Richard Carroll, the Green Party nominee.

The Democratic Party had rejected Dobbins because he had earlier resigned from the legislature as part of a plea bargain. His wife had then taken his seat. But in 2008, his wife had surprised everyone by not filing for re-election; instead Dobbins had filed for the seat at the last minute. He was the only person on the ballot in the May Democratic primary, and Arkansas does not permit write-ins in primaries.

Political Science Professor Michael McDonald of Virginia has created this webpage to track how many people have voted early in each state. So far he only has data for four states, but that will change as more and more states begin the process.

On October 16, the Vermont Green Party submitted its final brief in the case to get Cynthia McKinney on the Vermont ballot. On October 17, the Vermont Attorney General notified the court that the state will not submit any response. A decision is likely on Monday, October 20.

On October 17, the Connecticut Libertarian Party submitted the final evidence in its ballot access lawsuit. The judge had already received a list of signatures deemed invalid by the town clerks, but which actually seem to be valid. But the judge wanted to see all the signatures. That meant the party needed to photocopy 2,000 two-sided pieces of paper, with one copy for the state and the other for the court. That voluminous evidence has now been submitted.

Although the Libertarian Party also has lawsuits relating to presidential ballot access pending in Maine and Oklahoma, they will not be decided until after the election. Also, the New Hampshire Libertarian lawsuit, arguing that the state is constitutionally required to permit substitution, will not be heard until after the election.