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Free & Equal Elections Foundation

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Free and Equal Elections Foundation Logo and Tagline

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]

Presidential debates

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2008

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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.[citation needed]

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
 A A A A P P

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 an October 23, 2012 debate among four third party candidates for President of the United States, 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] A second debate, between Green Party nominee Jill Stein and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, was held on November 5, 2012.[citation needed]

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
 A A P P P P
2
November 5, 2012
 N N P P N N

2016

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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][better source needed] All candidates with ballot lines representing at least fifteen percent of potential voters were invited to attend.[5][better source needed]

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[6] A A A A P[7][6] P[7][6] P[7][6] A

2020

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Primaries

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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.[8] [better source needed]

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

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Two debates were held prior to the general election. The first was on October 8, 2020, in Denver, Colorado, with only candidates on the ballot in at least eight states eligible to participate.[9][better source needed] A second debate open to the same group of candidates occurred on October 24, 2020, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.[10][better source needed]

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

2024

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Primaries

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On January 18, 2024, the Free & Equal Elections Foundation held its first ever Democratic Party primary debate. Candidates were invited if they had ballot access in at least four states. Although eight candidates were invited,[11][better source needed] only Gabriel Cornejo, Frankie Lozada, Stephen Lyons, and Jason Palmer participated.[12][better source needed]

On February 29, 2024 Free & Equal held its first independent presidential debate, with two Libertarian candidates (Chase Oliver and Lars Mapstead), two Green Party candidates (Jill Stein and Jasmine Sherman) (also nominee of The Unicorn Party), and Party for Socialism and Liberation nominee Claudia De la Cruz. Independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Cornel West were invited but declined to attend.[13]

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

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.[14][15][better source needed] Biden, Kennedy, Oliver, Stein, Randall Terry, Trump and West were invited to the debate,[14][better source needed] while Oliver, Stein, and Terry participated.[14][better source needed]

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.[16][better source needed] 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.

Electoral reform symposia

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Since 2009, Free & Equal has hosted electoral reform symposia 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, FairVote founder Rob Richie, Nexus Earth founder Colin Cantrell, and Ballot Access News founder Richard Winger.[17][18][19][20][21][better source needed]

United We Stand tour

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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[22] and 2015,[23] University of Colorado Boulder in 2016,[24] and Texas A&M University in 2018.[25] The 2019 tour included Indiana,[26] Texas,[27] Colorado,[28] Oregon,[29] and Tennessee.[30]

References

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  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. Archived from the original on October 27, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  4. ↑ "United We Stand Fest & Open Presidential Debate University Tour Program Outline". Free and Equal. 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Actor Ed Asner set to moderate "free and open" presidential debate in Boulder". freeandequal.org. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "Ed Asner Challenges Trump and Clinton to Debate". freeandequal.org. Archived from the original on October 15, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  8. ↑ "First Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Second Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Third Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Free & Equal Elections to Host National Democratic Debate Jan. 18 in Los Angeles". January 5, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Free & Equal Elections on X: "We are now less than 24 hours away from the #DemocraticDebate tomorrow! Meet the candidates who will be participating. Tune in tomorrow at 8 PM EST and join the live stream on #Rumble. Info Here: https://t.co/nSds4cvW11 #PresidentialElections #America #FreeAndEqual https://t.co/ooShBI6eO9" / X". x.com. Retrieved July 5, 2026. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  13. ↑ Marantz, Andrew (March 11, 2024). "Libertarians and Socialists and Jill Stein - Oh, My!". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 "Free & Equal Presidential Debate – at FreedomFest July 12, 2024". freeandequal.org. Archived from the original on June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Free & Equal Presidential Debate to be Held at FreedomFest in Las Vegas July 11th" (Press release). May 14, 2024. Archived from the original on June 23, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024 – via WATE.
  16. ↑ "Free & Equal 2024 Presidential Debate Series: October Debate". Free and Equal - freeandequal.org. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ 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.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ 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.
  23. ↑ 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.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ 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.
  26. ↑ "United We Stand Tour at Earth Week". April 4, 2019.
  27. ↑ "United We Stand Tour at Knead Peace to Support Veterans". July 2, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Home". sisterwinds.com.
  29. ↑ "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.
  30. ↑ "Home". politicon.com.
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