Alexandra Shapiro Featured in Documentary on Third-Party Candidates
Partner Alexandra Shapiro was recently featured in the first part of a documentary series focused on third-party candidates in the 2016 presidential election. “Third Candidates” is a documentary produced by John Farrell and Jake Simms that examines why it is rare for a U.S. election to have more than two major candidates for president. The first episode – titled “‘The 15% Rule’ for Presidential Debate Access” – examines the history of debate-sponsoring organization the Commission On Presidential Debates (“CPD”) and its criteria for inclusion of non-major party candidates in its debates. Alexandra discusses the CPD’s lack of transparency and the lawsuit Shapiro Arato has filed against the Federal Election Commission on behalf of the nonpartisan, non-profit organization Level the Playing Field, Peter Ackerman, the Green Party of the United States and the Libertarian National Committee, which is part of a multi-pronged effort to enable an independent or third-party candidate to participate in the presidential debates.
The documentary has been released and clips featuring Alexandra Shapiro can be viewed here (1:50, 14:51, 17:46, 18:46, 19:31, 19:58) and here (16:11, 18:26). More information about our efforts to create an opportunity for an independent or third-party candidate to participate in the 2016 presidential debates can be found here and here.