In addition, a number of high-profile gubernatorial debates, which exclude all candidates except Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican rival Meg Whitman, have been scheduled throughout California. This non-inclusive debate series will kick off September 28 with a televised debate hosted at the University of California, Davis, and co-sponsored by the Sacramento Bee, to be followed by an October 2 debate at California State University, Fresno, and a Ronn Owens radio debate October 5 on KGO-810 AM. Tom Brokaw has agreed to moderate the final debate, October 12, sponsored and hosted by Dominican University of California.

“Non-inclusive debates are not a new phenomenon,” said Christina Tobin, who is running for California Secretary of State on the Libertarian Party line. “However, the true purpose of candidate debates should be to provide a forum for all qualified candidates to discuss the issues and provide voters with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions at the polls.”

Brown has challenged Whitman to a number of joint town hall appearances in addition to the already confirmed debate schedule.

“Every one of these debates is hosted by a credible organization, guaranteeing a fair and open forum,” Brown said in a statement, reported on The Sacramento Bee’s Capital Alert blog. “There is no reason not to participate, no reason not to say what we really mean, and show the voters who we are.”

“Brown’s guarantee of a fair and open forum is severely flawed,” Tobin said. “The only way to make these debates truly fair and open is to include all qualified candidates. They deserve the opportunity to participate, say what they really mean and show the voters who they are as well. If Brown wants to promote fairness, he should start playing fair, himself.”

“Non-inclusive debates do not provide voters with the answers they need to make informed decisions at the polls,” Tobin said. “These faux debates only work with insider candidates and partisan media, providing little if any substantial information.”

Gubernatorial candidates, Chelene Nightingale of the Constitution Party and Laura Wells of the Green Party, along with California Peace & Freedom Party State Chair C.T. Weber, Libertarian National Chair Mark Hinkle, Green Party National Co-Chair Michael Feinstein and Constitution Party National Chair Jim Clymer, have stated their agreement in opposing all non-inclusive candidate debates.

The Free & Equal Elections Foundation has launched a petition to open all debates to include all qualified candidates and would appreciate your support of our mission by signing the petition and spreading the word. Christina is founder and chair of Free & Equal.

SB 6 set the procedures to be used for implementing Proposition 14, the Top Two election system that passed on June 8. Field v. Bowen, filed July 29, which charges that SB 6 is unconstitutional, is scheduled to be heard in the County of San Francisco’s Superior Court of California, September 14, 2010, 9:30 a.m.

“This is the lawsuit that challenges two aspects of the California top-two system: (1) the ban on counting any write-in votes in November for Congress and partisan state office; (2) the discriminatory policy that lets some, but not all, candidates list their party affiliation on the ballot,” Winger wrote at Ballot Access News.

SB 6 was originally drafted as a bill dealing with hazardous waste. The bill was introduced by then state Sen. Abel Maldonado, amended and passed by the Legislature between 3:40 a.m. and 6:55 a.m., February 19, 2009, without public notice, and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger the next day. Maldonado agreed to give a yes vote on the 2009 budget in exchange for putting Proposition 14 on the ballot and the passage of SB 6.

“Instead of running to the media with ill-informed sound bites, Schwarzenegger and Maldonado need to listen to the participants in this lawsuit and fix the problems they created with their sloppy legislation,” Tobin said. “Maybe Maldonado can find one of his moderate legislator buddies to help us out. If Maldonado can get someone to imitate him by holding this year’s budget hostage in exchange for fixing the obvious problems in SB 6, we can turn that dysfunctional behavior into a positive. That is the wrong way to pass meaningful election reforms, but it seems to be how the legislature works.”

“Schwarzenegger and Maldonado had plenty of time to sit down with the special interests who gave them millions of dollars to promote Proposition 14,” Tobin said. “Now they need to recognize the merits of this lawsuit and sit down with the people who know how to fix the bad legislation they passed with SB 6. They failed to hold hearings or to get public and expert input on SB 6 before it passed, and it is now time for them to make up for that dysfunctional mistake. This wouldn’t have to go through the courts if Schwarzenegger and Maldonado were looking out for the interests of the voters instead of their big money donors.”

“Free and Equal Elections Foundation will continue to work with the public, political parties, candidates, the media and organizations to defeat the spread of Top Two election systems nationwide,” Tobin said. “I will explain the direction of this important work in detail at the press conference.”

Richard Winger is publisher and editor of Ballot Access News, established in 1985, a founder of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections, COFOE, and a frequent expert witness in court proceedings and legislative hearings. He is currently providing expert support to a lawsuit against Washington state’s Top Two election system. Winger is also a Californians for Electoral Reform, CfER, board member.

The lawsuit against SB 6 will not overturn the vote on Proposition 14, as Governor Schwarzenegger and Lt. Governor Maldonado wrongly assumed. The lawsuit seeks to force the California State Legislature to fix two things before Proposition 14 is implemented.

Gautam Dutta, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the SB 6 lawsuit, and Steve Chessin, a plaintiff of the SB 6 lawsuit and president and board member of CfER were recent guests on the Free and Equal radio show. They spoke at length about the lawsuit and related topics. That interview, starting at the 32 minute mark of the two hour show, can be heard on the Free and Equal website. Dutta recently had an article, “Why People Hate Politics”, published by the Huffington Post.

“The lawsuit Dutta, Chessin and Winger are working on against SB 6, and Winger’s involvement with the team appealing Washington’s Top Two election to the U.S. Supreme Court are important actions being taken to protect democracy in America,” Tobin said. “Free and Equal is here to help spread the word about their actions and to help their voices be heard so that we can continue to make this land a better place.”

“Right now, Governor Schwarzenegger and the California legislature need to listen to Dutta and the plaintiffs in the case against SB 6 instead of calling them names,” Tobin said. “We’ll be talking more about that, Tuesday.”

After the June 8 vote on Proposition 14, Free and Equal Elections Foundation has transformed StopTopTwo.org into a nationwide educational campaign to make voters aware of all the unhealthy aspects of a Top Two election system. Articles, such as Ralph Nader’s recent one titled “California Enshrines the Duopoly” can be found at StopTopTwo.org making it the internet hub for people interested in learning more about Top Two election systems.

In addition to producing the ongoing StopTopTwo.org campaign, Free and Equal is working hard to reform election laws through involvement with lawsuits, efforts to introduce and pass legislation in several states, and with the initiative and referendum process. Free and Equal also seeks to help amplify political voices wanting to participate by organizing candidate debates.

Free and Equal has organized debates for President and Vice President, three debates for Governor in Illinois, and has a U.S. Senatorial debate scheduled Thursday, August 19, at Northern Illinois University. Plans are also underway to hold a series of debates across the state of Calif. for the upcoming election in an effort to educate more voters about important issues.

Update: The date and location of the first U.S. Senatorial candidate debate organized by Free and Equal Elections Foundation will be rescheduled due to unforeseen conflicts with back-to-school activities at Northern Illinois University at DeKalb. Free and Equal is working with the University and sponsor, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, to reschedule the event as soon as possible. Tentative dates include: August 24, 25, 26 or September 8.

Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity officials also are accepting additional co-sponsoring organizations to speed along the rescheduling process. Free and Equal previously has organized three gubernatorial debates in Illinois, the most recent of which was sponsored in part by Kappa Alpha Psi at Chicago State University.

“On behalf of Free and Equal, I would like to apologize to the invited candidates, the press and attendees for any confusion or inconvenience this delay has caused,” Tobin said. “Free and Equal hopes to release the new date, time and location for the debate within the next week.”

All candidates who filed enough signatures to appear on the ballot will be invited to participate in the debate, including: Alexi Giannoulias, Democrat; Mark Kirk, Republican; LeAlan Jones, Green; Will Boyd, Independent; Corey Dabney, Independent; Mike Labno, Libertarian; Carl Officer, Practical; and Randy Stufflebeam, Constitution.

“Free and Equal is committed to giving all qualified candidates an equal voice in the debate,” Tobin said. “Illinois voters deserve a diversity of choices on the ballot. This all-partisan debate is meant to show the voters the kinds of choices they could and should have in November.”

Charles Thomas at Chicago’s local ABC affiliate and Sam Hudzik at Chicago Public Radio WBEZ 91.5 reported this week about the struggles some of these candidates still face getting on the ballot.

Free and Equal’s third Illinois gubernatorial debate, that took place in July, was covered by dozens of media outlets, including public radio stations WBEZ in Chicago, WSIU in Carbondale, and WILL in Champaign, along with the Chicago Sun-Times, Southtown Star, Huffington Post, Dekalb Daily-Chronicle, Chicagoist and the Chicago Tribune Media Group’s ChicagoNow. A live stream of the U.S. Senatorial debate will be available at freeandequal.org.

“The response to the last debate, from people in attendance and from those watching at home on their computers, has been tremendous,” Tobin said. “There is a hunger out there for more discussion and debate about the substantive issues that we all face. Free and Equal is looking to provide Illinois voters with more opportunities to learn about their political choices.”

Free and Equal will continue to organize all-inclusive candidate debates in Illinois and other states throughout this election season. September will kick-off a string of University hosted, student group sponsored and Free and Equal organized candidate debates across California. Additional information regarding California debates will be released as it becomes available.