California

California Candidate Debates Exclude Alternative Voices

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary’s College of California hosted the first U.S. senatorial candidate debate, Wednesday, September 1, which included incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer and Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, but excluded the remaining six alternative candidates.
In addition, a number of high-profile gubernatorial debates, which exclude all candidates except Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican rival Meg [...]

Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado May Need An Intervention

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, the California Independent Voter Network and the Yes on Prop 14 campaign have asked the courts to allow them to intervene as defendants in the lawsuit against state Senate Bill 6. A hearing regarding whether they have legal standing to intervene is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24, 9 [...]

Sacramento Press Conference Coverage and Pictures

The Sacramento Bee’s excellent Capitol Alert blog headed by Torey Van Oot gave us a nice mention.
Plaintiff Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access news, and Stop Top Two founder Christina Tobin will be on hand for the 10:30 a.m. news conference at the Capitol’s south steps.
Pictures from the Press Conference – Richard Winger and Christina [...]

SB6 Lawsuit to be Discussed at Tuesday Press Conference at California State Capitol.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Richard Winger, elections expert and plaintiff in the lawsuit against Senate Bill 6, and Christina Tobin, CEO and founder of Free and Equal Elections Foundation and StopTopTwo.org creator, will give a press conference on the south steps of the California State Capitol, near the corner of 11th and N streets, Tuesday, August [...]

Richard Winger and Christina Tobin to Host Sacramento Press Conference on Election Reforms

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Richard Winger, plaintiff in the lawsuit against Senate Bill 6, and Christina Tobin, CEO and founder of Free and Equal Elections Foundation and StopTopTwo.org creator, will give a press conference on the south steps of the California State Capitol, Tuesday, August 17, 10:30 a.m.
Richard Winger is publisher and editor of Ballot Access [...]

Free and Equal Radio Show – 8/17/2010

Free & Equal Radio Tuesday Night 9pm to 11pm Central Time. (7-9pm PT)
Radio Show Canceled for Tonight, August 17, 2010
We’ll return at the same time and same place next week.

Free and Equal Radio Show – 8/3/2010

Free & Equal Radio Tuesday Night 9pm to 11pm Central Time. (7-9pm PT)
Michael White starts off the show. He is the Constitution Party candidate for Governor of Illinois, and participated in Free and Equal’s debate for IL Governor. Their petitions are being challenged. Michael will update us on his campaign and how the Constitution Party [...]

StopTopTwo.org’s Christina Tobin Tells Governor Schwarzengger to Chill Out.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As reported in the San Jose Mercury News yesterday, Thursday, July 29, a lawsuit was filed charging that state Senate Bill 6 is unconstitutional. SB 6 is the legislation that put Proposition 14, the Top Two election system, on the June 8 California ballot.
Specifically, the lawsuit claims that SB 6 [...]

Ralph Nader: California Enshrines the Duopoly

Ralph Nader, at his website Nader.org, published an opinion piece last week on the topic of Proposition 14 and the Top Two election system, titled “California Enshrines the Duopoly“.
The opening paragraph from Ralph Nader is great, but please go read the whole thing here.
Last month, Big Business interests shamelessly dealt our already depleted democracy [...]

We Appreciate Your Support!

Dear Supporter,
American democracy is under threat like never before. California’s ‘Top Two’ system, which excludes all but the two most well-funded candidates from the general election ballot, threatens to spread across the nation. Powerful lobbyists are convincing state legislatures to make the petitioning process even more restrictive and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in ‘Citizens [...]