Maryland Public Television (MPT) is refusing to allow three of the five official candidates for Maryland Governor to participate in its debate on October 12. MPT is thereby denying us, the voting public, an opportunity to hear ALL candidates’ ideas for bringing about a better Maryland for the years to come.

Besides violating both its stated mission and its civic duty toward community education via this exclusionary and undemocratic decision, MPT appears to be violating the conditions for both its public funding and its FCC license, due to the arbitrary and partisan nature of its decision.

The arbitrary nature of the decision is revealed by 1) MPT stating its criteria to be a 10 percent threshold in published gubernatorial polls but 2) MPT having made its decision for this debate prior to any such poll having been published.  This decision is thereby not only in defiance of MPT's stated policies but also quite possibly in violation of its legal obligations both to abide by predefined standards and to remain non-partisan.

Whatsoever the established law might say, we, the signers of this petition, believe that Marylanders are entirely capable of forming their own judgments as to who the best leadership for Maryland will be without an elite few MPT staff presuming to decide on Marylanders' behalf from whom we shall be allowed to hear.

We also would remind MPT that 1) in poll after poll, roughly 50 to 65 percent of voters are declaring an interest in hearing from third parties, and 2) the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists calls on journalists to “Give voice to the voiceless" and "Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear."

We therefore call upon Larry D. Unger, the President & CEO of MPT, along with the members of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission to do the following:

1. Publicly share the criteria by which MPT arrived at its exclusionary and undemocratic decision, and irrespective of what those criteria might be,
2. Promptly open the MPT debate stage to ALL of the candidates for Maryland Governor who are duly on the ballot. 

The three excluded candidates from the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Working Class Party bring innovative ideas and distinct voices to the civic conversation about the best way forward for Maryland's future. For the sake of democracy, they belong on all debate stages leading to the election, but especially on any stage like MPT's that is substantially funded by public money.

Trust Maryland voters to make their own informed decisions!

                           “ON THE BALLOT MEANS ON THE STAGE”