https://www.facebook.com/events/467009770633831/


Our political system is broken. Our national political discourse is a wreck. It’s time for an intervention.

In that spirit, The Free and Equal Elections Foundation is hosting its first Open Presidential Debate of the 2020 US Presidential election at the Hilton Chicago Hotel on March 4, 2020 at 2pm CST.

The debate will attempt to address many criticisms of recent presidential debates, including frustrating formats, irrelevant questions, and heavy-handed candidate exclusions.

The event will be broadcast live at www.freeandequal.org.

Co-hosted by Open the Debates, the debate will use innovative formats and approaches to shift the conversation toward constructive, respectful, and solution-oriented debate.

The debate will be divided into two main segments to accommodate the groundswell of participating candidates, at 2pm and 6:30pm, with a short overlapping segment with all 21 candidates at 6pm. The cumulative debate format will provide a balanced and informative dialogue among the candidates.

General Admission $10. All proceeds go towards The Free and Equal Elections Foundation. Tickets are limited.

CONFIRMED CANDIDATES

Robert Ardini, Republican Party
Ken Armstrong, Libertarian Party
Don Blankenship, Constitution Party
Mosie Boyd, Democratic Party
Brian Carroll, American Solidarity Party
Mark Charles, Independent
Souraya Faas, Libertarian Party
Erik Gerhardt, Libertarian Party
Howie Hawkins, Green Party
Zoltan Istvan, Republican Party
Jo Jorgensen, Libertarian Party
Adam Kokesh, Libertarian Party
Charles Kraut, Constitution Party
Gloria La Riva, Party for Socialism and Liberation
Sedinam Moyowasifza-Curry, Green Party
J.R. Myers, Life and Liberty Party
Sam Robb, Libertarian Party
Mark Stewart, Democratic Party
Vermin Supreme, Libertarian Party
Arvin Vohra, Libertarian Party
Ben Zion, Transhumanist Party

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS!

Ballot Access News
Center for Election Science
Freedom Rising
Heartland Communities
Independent Voter News
National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers
Nexus
Sister Winds Festival
Taxpayers United of America
Thrive Fest Hawaii
Tribal Vision
Katherine Gehl
Frank Atwood of Approval Voting USA
David Bowden and Crystal Wagner
Gennady Stolyarov

HOW CAN I SECURE TICKETS?

You may purchase tickets on this page through eventbrite. Additionally, a certain number of tickets are reserved for sponsors.

WHAT’S THE CRITERIA FOR INVITED CANDIDATES?

In addition to Constitutional eligibility for the office of U.S. President, we are requiring the following criteria as a demonstration of a national campaign for the office:

Candidate committee has filed with the FEC and

A) If the candidate is seeking the nomination of one of the 5 parties that has its own presidential primaries (Dem, Rep, Libt, Green, and Constitution) then the candidate must be on the ballot in primaries in two states,

OR

B) If the candidate is an independent, or is seeking the nomination of some other party, the candidate must be circulating petitions in at least two states or has submitted a detailed ballot access plan for the above.

WILL THIS DEBATE BE BROADCAST ON TELEVISION?

We are working on finding local and national broadcast partners to carry this debate as far and as wide as possible. If you are interested in being a media partner, please contact kristan@freeandequal.org.

THE EVENT WILL BE LIVESTREAMED AT WWW.FREEANDEQUAL.ORG.

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Hello fellow supporter,

Christina Tobin here! Just a quick update that we have decided to move the debate from March 4th at 6pm Central to March 4th at 2PM Central.

Due to the overwhelming response from 21 participating candidates, we decided to make this change to best accommodate the candidates at our Open Presidential Debate at the Hilton Chicago Hotel.

It’s a good problem to have! So if you haven’t signed up to watch the LIVE Open Presidential Debates, now is the time to do so.

At a time of deep and growing divisions in our country, these 21 candidates show that Americans can still come together for vigorous yet respectful debate. Together, we can still change the tenor of the nation’s dark political discourse.

Right now 3 out of 4 U.S. voters want open debates. And 2 out of 3 Americans want an easier path for third party and independent candidates to run for office.

The problem? 

The major parties still work together to block outside competition.

Hosted by Free and Equal Elections Foundation and Open the Debates, this will be the first OPEN debate during the 2020 election season. 

As you may know, Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, and other viable candidates excluded from recent DNC debates. 

There’s a well-known political bias of the Commission on Presidential Debates and numerous organizations are finally coming together to create a new debate platform to fill the gap designed by political insiders. 

Some of these organizations helping to build a new system of debate include Nexus, The Center for Election Science, Taxpayers United of America, National Association of Non-Partisan Reformers, Independent Voter News, Ballot Access News, and Represent.US.

Let’s take a look at what some of our candidates have to say ahead of the March 4th debate:

Arvin Vohra, a Libertarian candidate for President taking part in the March 4th open debate, said:

“The Commission on Presidential Debates doesn’t just exist to keep individual candidates like me out of the national debate, or to keep individual political parties like the Libertarian Party out of the national debate.”

“They exist to keep the big, important, culture changing ideas out of the national debate, and that is why the Free and Equal debate is so important.” 

Charles Kraut, who is seeking the Constitution Party nomination for the presidency said:

“Because both major parties are corrupt and generally ignore the Constitution, it is essential that we learn about and hear from people and organizations that offer different approaches to the problems of the day, .

“I look forward to the March 4th debate as an opportunity to defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

Transhumanist Party candidate Ben Zion said: 

“If we Americans have any chance of breaking the stranglehold of money and special interests on our government, we must hear new voices, and new ideas, and the Free and Equal Elections Foundation represents the very best of that.” 

Democratic Party candidate Mark Stewart adds: 

"The best hope that we have now is electing true outsiders, and Free and Equal gives outsiders a very good chance. Every one of the candidates who's committed to that first Free and Equal debate is worth watching."

The debate will be divided into two main segments to accommodate the groundswell of participating candidates, at 2pm and 6:30pm, with a short overlapping segment with all 21 candidates at 6pm. 

The cumulative debate format will provide a balanced and informative dialogue among the candidates. 

By moving beyond false binary choices of liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican, we can start to dig deeper into a more meaningful political debate.

We’re creating a new national platform and dialogue – and we want you to be a part of it! 

My co-host Eli Beckerman, Founder of Open the Debates, may have said it best:

“Instead of begging for better debates, we’re creating the alternative to make the Commission on Presidential Debates and media gatekeeper debates obsolete.”

Please join our event on Facebook for the very latest updates so you can watch our debate LIVE!

In Unity,
Christina
Free and Equal Elections

PS. Click here to see a full list of our confirmed line up of candidates and watch our latest promo video.

Don't forget - Ticket sales are limited to 300, so please save your seat now while you can so you can attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. 
About Free & Equal Elections Foundation
The Free & Equal Elections Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to open the electoral process through education and collaborative action. 
About Open the Debates
Open the Debates is a 501(c)3 project of Mediators Foundation working to open up the political debates of our nation to all ballot-qualified candidates, at every level of government.