Free & Equal Elections Foundation

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation (Free & Equal) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization in the United States, the mission of which is to empower American voters through education and advocacy of electoral reforms.[1] Free & Equal leads national, state, and local efforts to open the electoral process in the United States by hosting all-inclusive gubernatorial, Presidential, and senatorial debates; organizing Electoral Reform Symposiums; producing United We Stand tours; and supporting individuals running for office. Free & Equal was first organized in 1982 as the Foundation for Free Campaigns and Elections, before being formally reorganized in 2008 by Christina Tobin, an American activist and leader in the election reform and voters' rights movement.

Free and Equal Elections Foundation Logo and Tagline

Presidential debates

2008
Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2008 § October 23: Free & Equal debate (Washington, D.C.)

During the 2008 presidential election, Free & Equal hosted a presidential debate at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C., on October 23, 2008. Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin and independent candidate Ralph Nader participated in a debate moderated by journalist Chris Hedges. The Free & Equal debate was the only presidential debate featuring independent and third-party candidates held during the 2008 election to be broadcast to a national audience. The debate was broadcast live on C-SPAN2 in prime time.

Free & Equal debates, 2008
N°DateHostLocationModeratorsParticipants
 P  Participant     N  Non-invitee      A  Absent invitee    Democratic Republican Libertarian Green Constitution Independent
Senator
Barack Obama
of Illinois		 Senator
John McCain
of Arizona		 Congressman
Bob Barr
of Georgia		 Congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney
of Georgia		 Pastor
Chuck Baldwin
of Florida		 Advocate
Ralph Nader
of Connecticut
1
October 23, 2008
Mayflower Hotel
Washington, D.C.
Chris Hedges
 A A A A P P

2012
Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2012
Free & Equal's 2012 "Open Presidential Debate" was moderated by Christina Tobin (left) and Larry King (right).

In 2012, Free & Equal sponsored the October 23, 2012 debate among four third party candidates for President of the United States. It featured Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party), Jill Stein (Green Party), Virgil Goode (Constitution Party), and Rocky Anderson (Justice Party). The debate was moderated by former Larry King Live host Larry King and Christina Tobin. It was televised by RT TV, Al Jazeera English, and C-SPAN.[2][3]

Free & Equal debates, 2012
N°DateHostLocationModeratorParticipants
 P  Participant.     N  Non-invitee.      A  Absent invitee.    Democratic Republican Libertarian Green Constitution Justice
President
Barack Obama
of Illinois		 Governor
Mitt Romney
of Massachusetts		 Governor
Gary Johnson
of New Mexico		 Doctor
Jill Stein
of Massachusetts		 Congressman
Virgil Goode
of Virginia		 Mayor
Rocky Anderson
of Utah
1
October 23, 2012
Hilton Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Larry King of Ora.TV
 A A P P P P
2
November 5, 2012
RT America
Washington, D.C.
Thom Hartmann of RT
 N N P P N N

2016
Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2016

Free & Equal hosted an open debate along with Student Voices Count at the University of Colorado Boulder's Macky Auditorium on October 25, 2016.[4] Originally, all presidential candidates with ballot access sufficient to represent a majority of electoral votes were invited.[5] in October 2016, Free and Equal extended the invitation to all candidates with ballot lines representing at least fifteen percent of potential voters: the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Reform, and Socialism and Liberation parties, as well as independent candidate Evan McMullin.[6] Gary Johnson, who participated in the 2012 debate, had already publicly declined in July 2016 to debate Jill Stein on The Young Turks because of a matter of "just time".[7]

Free & Equal debates, 2016
N°DateHostLocationModeratorsInvited participants
 P  Participant.     A  Absent invitee. Republican Democratic Libertarian Green Constitution Reform PSL Independent
Businessman
Donald Trump
of New York		 Secretary
Hillary Clinton
of New York		 Governor
Gary Johnson
of New Mexico		 Doctor
Jill Stein
of Massachusetts		 Lieutenant
Darrell Castle
of Tennessee		 Businessman
Rocky De La Fuente
of California		 Activist
Gloria La Riva
of California		 Director
Evan McMullin
of Utah
1 October 25, 2016 University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, Colorado Ed Asner[8] A A A A P[9][8] P[9][8] P[9][8] A

Primaries

Early on March 4, 2020, the Free & Equal Elections Foundation held a debate at the Hilton Chicago Hotel. Various third-party candidates, as well as minor candidates affiliated with the Democratic and Republican parties attended.[10] Some, but not all, of the participants would go on to be their parties nominees.

2020 Free & Equal debates
No.Date & TimeLocationModeratorsInvited participants
 P  Participant. Democratic Libertarian Green Constitution American Solidarity Life and Liberty Transhumanist
Businessman
Mark Stewart
of Connecticut		 Activist
Dan Berhman
of Texas		 Carpenter
Erik Gerhardt
of Pennsylvania		 LNC Vice Chair
Arvin Vohra
of Maryland		 Activist
Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry
of California		 Financial Advisor
Charles Kraut
of Virginia		 Educator
Brian Carroll
of California		 Activist
J.R. Myers
of Alaska		 Activist
Ben Zion
of Arizona
1a March 4, 2020
2:00 pm CST		 Chicago, Illinois Christina Tobin P P P P P P P P P
 P  Participant. Republican Democratic Libertarian Green /
Socialist		 PSL Independent
Futurist
Zoltan Istvan
of California		 Attorney
Mosie Boyd
of Arkansas		 Lieutenant
Ken Armstrong
of Hawaii		 Lecturer
Jo Jorgensen
of South Carolina		 Corporal
Adam Kokesh
of Indiana		 Activist
Vermin Supreme
of Massachusetts		 Tradesman
Howie Hawkins
of New York		 Activist
Gloria La Riva
of California		 Activist
Mark Charles
of the District of Columbia
1b March 4, 2020
6:30 pm CST		 Chicago, Illinois Christina Tobin P P P P P P P P P

General election

Two debates were held prior to the general election. The first was on October 8, 2020, in Denver, Colorado, with participation limited to candidates on the ballot in at least eight states.[11] A second debate with the same candidates occurred on October 24, 2020, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.[12]

2020 Free & Equal debates
No.Date & TimeLocationModeratorsInvited participants
 P  Participant.
 A  Absent Invitee.		 Republican Democratic Libertarian Green /
Socialist		 PSL Alliance /
Reform		 Constitution American Solidarity Independent
President
Donald Trump
of Florida		 Former Vice President
Joe Biden
of Delaware		 Lecturer
Jo Jorgensen
of South Carolina		 Tradesman
Howie Hawkins
of New York		 Activist
Gloria La Riva
of California		 Businessman
Rocky De La Fuente
of California		 Businessman
Don Blankenship
of West Virginia		 Educator
Brian Carroll
of California		 Entrepreneur
Brock Pierce
of Puerto Rico		 Producer
Kanye West
of Wyoming
2 October 8, 2020
6:00 pm MDT		 Denver, Colorado Christina Tobin A A A P P A P P P A
3 October 24, 2020
6:00 pm MDT		 Cheyenne, Wyoming Christina Tobin A A A P P A A P P A

Electoral Reform Symposiums

Since 2009, Free & Equal has hosted electoral reform symposiums to unite intellectuals and experts to share and debate reforms to the U.S. electoral system. Past panelists and speakers include President of The League of Women Voters of Colorado Nancy Crow, Deputy Secretary of State of Colorado Suzanne Staiert, Founder of FairVote Rob Richie, Founder of Nexus Earth Colin Cantrell, Founder of Ballot Access News Richard Winger and more.[13][14][15][16][17]

United We Stand Tour

In 2014, Free & Equal launched United We Stand, a festival and tour uniting the younger generations with musicians, artists, and thought leaders to promote political and cultural change. Since its inception, the tour has made stops at Belasco Theater in Los Angeles in 2014[18] and 2015,[19] University of Colorado Boulder in 2016,[20] and Texas A&M University in 2018.[21] The 2019 tour includes Indiana,[22] Texas,[23] Colorado,[24] Oregon,[25] and Tennessee.[26]

References
  1. "About « Free And Equal". Freeandequal.org. Archived from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
  2. Michael Calderone, Third-Party Debate To Be Broadcast By Al Jazeera English, RT America, But Not Major Cable News Networks, Huffington Post, Posted: 10/19/2012, Updated: 10/23/2012, accessed November 4, 2012
  3. "Presidential Hopefuls Meet in Third Party Debate". PBS NewsHour. October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  4. "United We Stand Fest & Open Presidential Debate University Tour Program Outline". Free and Equal. 2016. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  5. Richard Winger (October 6, 2015). "Free and Equal Announces Date and Location for General Election Presidential Debate". Ballot-access.org. Ballot Access News. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  6. "Join our United We Stand Festival & People's Presidential Debate! Tues Oct 25th 4pm". freeandequal.org. Free and Equal Elections Foundation. 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  7. No More 2 Party System (July 24, 2016). Gary Johnson Declines To Debate Jill Stein As Offered By The Young Turks (video). YouTube. Retrieved October 27, 2016. Well, just time, you know.
  8. "Actor Ed Asner set to moderate "free and open" presidential debate in Boulder". freeandequal.org. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  9. "Ed Asner Challenges Trump and Clinton to Debate". freeandequal.org. Archived from the original on October 15, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  10. "First Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  11. "Second Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  12. "Third Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  13. CATO Forum - Ralph Nader, Theresa Amatom, James Bennett, Bill Redpath. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. October 29, 2012. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  14. UW Madison Panel Discussion Theresa Amato, Cindy Sheehan, Angela Keaton, Sean Scallon, Ben Manski. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. October 29, 2012. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  15. 2014 Free and Equal Elections Electoral Reform Symposium. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. November 24, 2014. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  16. 2015 Free and Equal Elections Electoral Reform Symposium. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. November 10, 2016. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  17. 2016 Free and Equal Elections Electoral Reform Symposium. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. November 20, 2016. Archived from the original on March 15, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  18. United We Stand Festival - Immortal Technique!. H Dellamorte. May 18, 2014. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  19. 2015 United We Stand Fest Festival at Belasco Theater, LA. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. January 14, 2016. Archived from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  20. 2016 Presidential Debate Moderated by Ed Asner & Christina Tobin. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. November 1, 2016. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  21. 2018 United We Stand | Texas A&M's Reed Arena. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. April 29, 2018. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
  22. "United We Stand Tour at Earth Week". April 4, 2019.
  23. "United We Stand Tour at Knead Peace to Support Veterans". July 2, 2019.
  24. "Home". sisterwinds.com.
  25. "Freedom Rising – Everyday actions to cultivate as we rise in Freedom, Truth, Love, and Harmony with Nature into a new earth paradigm". Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  26. "Home". politicon.com.
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