Open Debate Demonstrations Planned

We are currently less than three weeks from the 2016 general election, and the Presidential debates are behind us. You can now, if you haven’t already, begin looking at the other races on the ballot, and learning about your options. NH1, which has previously given somewhat favorable coverage to alternative candidates, will be hosting a Gubernatorial debate on Wednesday Oct 26, and a US Senate debate on Thursday Oct 27. Despite ballot retention requiring 4% in the general election (i.e. the vote threshold needed for a party to retain ballot access without needing to collect a burdensome number of petitions), NH1 has only invited candidates polling over 10%. This means that despite Libertarian Gubernatorial nominee Max Abramson polling at 6% and Libertarian US Senate nominee Brian Chabot polling at 4%, neither man will be on stage.

To protest this lack of impartiality, the Ballot Access Fairness Coalition in conjunction with the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire will be holding a pair of protests outside the NH1 studios on Wednesday & Thursday. The protests are slated to begin at 630p and conclude at 8p – the scheduled start-time of the debates. The purpose of the protests is to bring awareness, not only to the candidates excluded from these debates, but also to the media bias that often serves to protect the ruling duopoly.

If you wish to join this peaceful demonstration, please meet on the sidewalk at the intersection of N State St & Church St in Concord. Note: there may be limited parking on the street near the NH1 studios, there is a city park with a parking lot (Kimball Park) about ½ mile up the road on Bradley Street, and there also appear to be parking on Penacook Street at the intersection with US3 (approximately .3 miles from the NH1 studios).