1. 2016's presidential debate schedule announced four years ago this week
2. Join today's free briefing on 2020 ballot measures
3. Follow our coverage of the Oct. 8 elections in 12 North Carolina municipalities

2016's presidential debate schedule announced four years ago this week

It’s fun to look through previous editions of our Daily Presidential News Briefing to compare where we are in the current presidential campaign versus four years ago. It offers a unique perspective and I often learn something new.

Four years ago, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that the first three presidential debates ahead of the 2016 general election would be held in Ohio, Missouri, and Nevada. And three years ago—on Sept. 26, 2016—the first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton took place.

Wright State University—in Dayton, Ohio—was scheduled to host the first debate. The university asked to be removed from its hosting commitments in July 2016, however, due to higher-than-expected security costs. The debate was moved to Hofstra University—in Hempstead, New York—which had been designated as an alternate site.

The second and third debates in 2016 were held at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as originally scheduled.

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a nonprofit organization that sponsors, organizes, and establishes guidelines for general election presidential and vice presidential debates. The CPD was founded in 1987 and has sponsored every presidential and vice presidential general election debate since 1988. The CPD's funding comes primarily from the communities that host the debates and corporate, foundation, and private donors. It does not receive funding from the government or any political party.

Although the CPD has not yet named the venues or dates for the 2020 presidential election, it announced the six institutions that submitted applications as potential hosts in April: 

• Belmont University, Nashville, TN
• City of Hartford, Hartford, CT
• Creighton University, Omaha, NE
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
• Utah Debate Commission and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Our page on the CPD also lists the date, location, moderators, and participants of all previous presidential and vice presidential debates since 1988. There are also links to recordings of the full debates from the 2016 cycle. And to stay up-to-date on all the news from this year’s presidential campaigns, you’ll definitely want to subscribe to our free Daily Presidential News Briefing.  

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Join today's free briefing on 2020 ballot measures

The Nov. 5, 2019, general elections are still six weeks away but we’ve already done lots of work on 2020 elections. Forty statewide ballot measures have already been certified in 19 states for next year. And the process of certifying other 2020 ballot measures is well underway. In the last five even-numbered years—from 2010 to 2018—there were an average of 172 statewide measures. 

We’re holding a free briefing today at 11 a.m. Central Daylight Time on next year’s ballot measure landscape that you won’t want to miss. Join me and Ballot Measures Project Director Josh Altic as we discuss which measures have already been certified for the 2020 ballot and which topics are attracting the most attention. Josh will also discuss how the increase in voter turnout in the 2018 general elections may affect the number of initiatives that reach the ballot in California and any trends he’s seeing nationwide. 

Some of the other issues we’ll cover are the veto referendum deciding whether Colorado will join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which states have ballot measures on the initiative process itself, and what stories Josh will be looking for in the weeks ahead. 

This will be a really interesting discussion and it’s not too late to register. I hope you’ll join us later today!

Follow our coverage of the Oct. 8 elections in 12 North Carolina municipalities 

Last month, we highlighted that for the first time ever, we are covering all local elections across an entire state—North Carolina.  

What does that mean? To help voters understand what's on their local ballots, we've deployed our sample ballot tool which allows them to see the issues and candidates hoping to earn their vote.

Our North Carolina sample ballots cover 503 cities, towns, and villages...nine school districts...and 17 special districts. That's 529 local elections for 1,975 positions in just one state! We're also covering North Carolina's local ballot measures.

North Carolina is holding municipal elections on three different dates in 2019—Sept. 10, Oct. 8 and Nov. 5. The election date in each jurisdiction depends on: 

• whether a municipality has either partisan or nonpartisan primaries; and 

• whether the city’s laws allow for runoff elections if the first-place finisher receives less than a certain percentage of the vote. 

Twelve municipalities, including Cary, North Carolina—the state's seventh-largest town—are holding nonpartisan general elections on Oct. 8. Cary voters will choose the mayor and three town council seats. If no candidate receives at least 50% of the general election vote, a runoff may be held Nov. 5, but only if the second-place candidate requests it.

Cary voters will also decide on two bond issues totaling $225 million—$112 million for parks and recreation and $113 million for transportation. Our research shows Cary is the only North Carolina city voting on ballot measures Oct. 8. 

North Carolina holds statewide elections in even-numbered years, but the majority of local elections to choose local governing officials—such as mayors and city council members—are held during odd-numbered years. Click the link below to explore all our coverage of North Carolina’s 2019 elections.

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