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Free & Equal Elections Foundation

American nonprofit organization

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.

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

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°		Date		Host		Location		Moderators		scope="col" colspan="6"	Participants	Participant Non-invitee Absent invitee	[](democratic-party-united-states)	[](republican-party-united-states)	[](libertarian-party-united-states)	[](green-party-united-states)	[](constitution-party-united-states)	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

2012

Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2012

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.

Free & Equal debates, 2012	N°
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	2

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. Originally, all presidential candidates with ballot access sufficient to represent a majority of electoral votes were invited. 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. 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".

Free & Equal debates, 2016	N°		Date		Host
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	url=http://www.denverpost.com/2016/10/24/open-presidential-debate-boulder/	title=Actor Ed Asner set to moderate "free and open" presidential debate in Boulder	work=freeandequal.org	accessdate=October 20, 2016}}

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. Some, but not all, of the participants would go on to be their parties nominees.

2020 Free & Equal debates	No.		Date & Time		Location
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	Participant.	[](republican-party-united-states)	[](democratic-party-united-states)	[](libertarian-party-united-states)	[](green-party-united-states)
[](socialist-party-usa)	[](party-for-socialism-and-liberation)	[](independent-united-states)	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
2:00 pm CST	Chicago, Illinois	Christina Tobin
March 4, 2020
6:30 pm CST	Chicago, Illinois	Christina Tobin

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. A second debate with the same candidates occurred on October 24, 2020, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

2020 Free & Equal debates	No.		Date & Time		Location		Moderators
Absent Invitee.	Republican Party (United States)}}"	[](republican-party-united-states)	Democratic Party (United States)}}"	[](democratic-party-united-states)	Libertarian Party (United States)}}"	[](libertarian-party-united-states)	Green Party (United States)}}"	[](green-party-united-states)
[](socialist-party-usa)	Party for Socialism and Liberation}}"	[](party-for-socialism-and-liberation)	Alliance Party (United States)}}"	[](alliance-party-united-states)
[](reform-party-of-the-united-states-of-america)	Constitution Party (United States)}}"	[](constitution-party-united-states)	American Solidarity Party}}"	[](american-solidarity-party)	[](independent-united-states)	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	3
October 8, 2020
6:00 pm MDT	Denver, Colorado	Christina Tobin
October 24, 2020
6:00 pm MDT	Cheyenne, Wyoming	Christina Tobin

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, only Gabriel Cornejo, Frankie Lozada, Stephen Lyons, and Jason Palmer participated.

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.

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.

2024 Free & Equal debates	No.		Date & Time		Location		Moderators
Absent Invitee.	Democratic Party (United States)}}"	[](democratic-party-united-states)	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	Participant.
Absent Invitee.	Libertarian Party (United States)}}"	[](libertarian-party-united-states)	Green Party (United States)}}"	[](green-party-united-states)	Party for Socialism and Liberation}}"	[](party-for-socialism-and-liberation)	[](independent-united-states)	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
January 18, 2024
6:00 pm PDT	Los Angeles, California	Christina Tobin
February 29, 2024
8:00 pm EDT	New York City, New York	Jason Palmer
Caitlin Sinclair
Christina Tobin

Presidential debates

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.

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

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.

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.

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 and 2015, University of Colorado Boulder in 2016, and Texas A&M University in 2018. The 2019 tour includes Indiana, Texas, Colorado, Oregon, and Tennessee.

References

"About « Free And Equal". Freeandequal.org.
Michael Calderone, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/third-party-debate-al-jazeera-english_n_1988014.html 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
(October 25, 2012). "Presidential Hopefuls Meet in Third Party Debate". [[PBS NewsHour]].
(2016). "United We Stand Fest & Open Presidential Debate University Tour Program Outline". Free and Equal.
Richard Winger. (October 6, 2015). "Free and Equal Announces Date and Location for General Election Presidential Debate". Ballot Access News.
(2016). "Join our United We Stand Festival & People's Presidential Debate! Tues Oct 25th 4pm". Free and Equal Elections Foundation.
No More 2 Party System. (Jul 24, 2016). "Gary Johnson Declines To Debate Jill Stein As Offered By The Young Turks". [[YouTube]].
"Actor Ed Asner set to moderate "free and open" presidential debate in Boulder". freeandequal.org.
"Ed Asner Challenges Trump and Clinton to Debate". freeandequal.org.
"First Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation.
"Second Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation.
"Third Open Presidential Debate 2020". Free and Equal Elections Foundation.
(January 5, 2024). "Free & Equal Elections to Host National Democratic Debate Jan. 18 in Los Angeles".
(August 2024)
(August 2024)
Marantz, Andrew. (March 11, 2024). "Libertarians and Socialists and Jill Stein - Oh, My!".
"Free & Equal 2024 Presidential Debate Series: Second Presidential Debate".
"Free & Equal Presidential Debate – at FreedomFest July 12, 2024".
(May 14, 2024). "Free & Equal Presidential Debate to be Held at FreedomFest in Las Vegas July 11th".
"Free & Equal 2024 Presidential Debate Series: October Debate".
(October 29, 2012). "CATO Forum - Ralph Nader, Theresa Amatom, James Bennett, Bill Redpath". [[The Free and Equal Elections Foundation]].
(October 29, 2012). "UW Madison Panel Discussion Theresa Amato, Cindy Sheehan, Angela Keaton, Sean Scallon, Ben Manski". [[The Free and Equal Elections Foundation]].
(November 24, 2014). "2014 Free and Equal Elections Electoral Reform Symposium". [[The Free and Equal Elections Foundation]].
(November 10, 2016). "2015 Free and Equal Elections Electoral Reform Symposium". [[The Free and Equal Elections Foundation]].
(November 20, 2016). "2016 Free and Equal Elections Electoral Reform Symposium". [[The Free and Equal Elections Foundation]].
(May 18, 2014). "United We Stand Festival - Immortal Technique!". H Dellamorte.
(January 14, 2016). "2015 United We Stand Fest Festival at Belasco Theater, LA". [[The Free and Equal Elections Foundation]].
(November 1, 2016). "2016 Presidential Debate Moderated by Ed Asner & Christina Tobin". [[The Free and Equal Elections Foundation]].
(April 29, 2018). "2018 United We Stand {{!}} Texas A&M's Reed Arena". [[The Free and Equal Elections Foundation]].
(April 4, 2019). "United We Stand Tour at Earth Week".
(July 2, 2019). "United We Stand Tour at Knead Peace to Support Veterans".
"Home".
"Freedom Rising – Everyday actions to cultivate as we rise in Freedom, Truth, Love, and Harmony with Nature into a new earth paradigm".
"Home".

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