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Free & Equal Elections Foundation

American nonprofit organization From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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]

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Free and Equal Elections Foundation Logo and Tagline

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.

Presidential debates

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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.

More information N°, Date ...
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
Close

2012

Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2012
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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]

More information N°, Date ...
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
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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]

More information N°, Date ...
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
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2020

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.

More information 2020 Free & Equal debates, No. ...
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
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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]

More information 2020 Free & Equal debates, No. ...
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
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2024

Primaries

On January 18, 2024, the Free & Equal Elections Foundation held its first ever Democratic Party primary debate streamed on Rumble while four candidates took the stage at Chelsea Television Studios in New York City, New York. Candidates were invited if they had ballot access in at least four states. Although eight candidates were invited, [13] only Gabriel Cornejo, Frankie Lozada, Stephen Lyons, and Jason Palmer participated.[14]

On February 29, 2024 Free & Equal held its first independent presidential debate also at Chelsea Television Studios featuring two Libertarian candidates (Chase Oliver and Lars Mapstead), two Green Party candidates (Jill Stein and Jasmine Sherman) (also nominee of The Unicorn Party), plus Party for Socialism and Liberation nominee Claudia De la Cruz. Independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Cornel West were invited but unable to attend. [15][16]

These selections were made via multiple choice voting available on their website where members of the public could pick their top seven candidates across party lines and independents. [17]

More information 2024 Free & Equal debates, No. ...
2024 Free & Equal debates
No.Date & TimeLocationModeratorsInvited participants
 P  Participant.
 A  Absent Invitee.		 Democratic
President
Joe Biden
of Delaware		 Entrepreneur
Gabriel Cornejo
of New York		 Entrepreneur
Frankie Lozada
of New York		 Plumber
Stephen Lyons
of California		 Entrepreneur
Jason Palmer
of Maryland		 Congressman
Dean Phillips
of Minnesota		 Media host
Cenk Uygur
of California		 Author
Marianne Williamson
of California
1 January 18, 2024
6:00 pm PDT		 Los Angeles, California Christina Tobin

Kwame Jackson

 A P P P P A A A
 P  Participant.
 A  Absent Invitee.		 Libertarian Green PSL Independent
Businessman
Lars Mapstead
of California		 Sales executive
Chase Oliver
of Georgia		 Activist
Jasmine Sherman
of North Carolina		 Doctor
Jill Stein
of Massachusetts		 Activist
Claudia De la Cruz
of New York		 Attorney
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
of California		 Academic
Cornel West
of California
2 February 29, 2024
8:00 pm EDT		 New York City, New York Jason Palmer
Caitlin Sinclair
Christina Tobin		 P P P P P A A
Close

Presidential debates

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From left to right: Oliver, Stein, and Terry at the Free and Equal debate in Las Vegas.

Free and Equal hosted a second debate on July 12, 2024, at FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Nevada moderated by the foundation's chair, Christina Tobin and congressman Thomas Massie.[18][19]

Biden, Kennedy, Oliver, Stein, Randall Terry, Trump and West were invited to the debate,[18] while Oliver, Stein, and Terry participated.[18]

The Free and Equal hosted a third debate on October 23, 2024 in Los Angeles, California moderated by the foundation's chair, Christina Tobin and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker.[20]

Chase Oliver, Jill Stein, Randall Terry, Claudia De la Cruz, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, and Cornel West were invited. Oliver, Stein, and Terry participated again. Confirmed United We Stand artists: Loomis, Mahdieh Maleki, LeRome Swiss, Samuel J, Jon Nash, Shyalpa Rinpoche, Shylah Ray, Scott Page, Jose Muñoz, Franko Heke, Charlie Scott III/Chad Bishop, Colin Cantrell and Kaisi Berick.

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.[21][22][23][24][25]

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[26] and 2015,[27] University of Colorado Boulder in 2016,[28] and Texas A&M University in 2018.[29] The 2019 tour includes Indiana,[30] Texas,[31] Colorado,[32] Oregon,[33] and Tennessee.[34]

References

External links

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