Just days ago the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters released the dates for two upcoming statewide debates for North Carolina’s candidates for Governor. However, while the debates will include Republican Pat McCrory and Democrat Walter Dalton, the NCAB refuses to allow North Carolina’s only other ballot-qualified candidate for Governor, Barbara Howe, to participate in the debates.The NC Association of Broadcasters is holding to its usual method by only allowing candidates that have polled at least 10% into the debates. While Howe has not polled at the 10% threshold required by the NCAB, she has polled near the threshold around the state. A SurveyUSA poll of 700 North Carolina adults conducted in mid-May had the Libertarian candidate for Governor at 7%, doing best with the state’s unaffiliated voters taking 13% and even beating Democratic candidate Walter Dalton by 8 percentage points among Hispanics.

On July 11, Durham-based Public Policy Polling released a poll showing Barbara Howe at 9% and on August 8, PPP released new polling results showing Howe at 7%. Public Policy Polling also noted, “Howe is surprisingly pulling more support from Democrats (9%) than Republicans (5%),” diverging from some of the typical political thought on who Libertarian candidates pull from the most.

While the NCAB is free to choose who participates in the debates they host, not allowing a legally qualified candidate for the Governorship of North Carolina has its consequences. Jason Melehani, a Libertarian and Howe supporter, is asking North Carolina voters to contact the NCAB regarding the situation. In a sample letter that Melehani has put together he says, “The Democrat and Republican candidates do not encompass the full spectrum of political beliefs and [the NCAB is] doing a major disservice to the people of North Carolina by excluding Barbara Howe.

Howe has stated on her campaign Facebook page in regards to being left out of the debates that “Voters should be informed of their options, and not including third-party candidates prevents this.

Unusually difficult barriers to political participation and competition already haunt North Carolina, especially in the form of NC’s ballot access laws that the Libertarians took massive strides to overcome in 2008 and managed even to surmount the threshold to maintain ballot eligibility in 2010 and 2012. The NCAB in purporting to put on debates between the candidates for Governor in North Carolina to help the voters better understand their choices come November and at the same time excluding the only other ballot-qualified candidate. Regardless of the historical threshold required, the NCAB is denying the voters a chance to see their full spectrum of choices in this action.

Regardless of your political views, or who you plan to support in November, in addition to fair and equal access to the ballot, open political discourse is an imperative to ensure that the voters are informed of all their options. That open discourse ensures they are able to exercise their right to vote for the candidate of their choice, not that of some large media organization.

If the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters is that serious about doing a service to the people of this state, instead of pushing two ordained voices onto the voters, it should open up the debates to all legally ballot qualified candidates. It is not exactly asking much; just one more lectern and one more microphone so not to mislead the voters into thinking they only have two options.

I would encourage you to take a little time to contact the NCAB to let them know how you feel about their biased coverage of the Governor’s race by denying a legally qualified candidate for Governor a place in the debates. You can reach them by phone at (919) 821-7300 or e-mail them at info@ncbroadcast.com.

DISCLAIMER: This is not an endorsement of Barbara Howe or the Libertarian Party of North Carolina. This is meant to educate the people of North Carolina about how the media is denying them access to their full array of options come November.

Copyright © 2012 Jordon M. Greene. Jordon M. Greene is the President & Founder of Free the Vote North Carolina, a constitutional conservative, political activist, self-employed web designer and born again Christian. Jordon received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and is a member of Temple Baptist Church in Lenoir, North Carolina.