2016 United States presidential election

United States presidential election, 2016

November 8, 2016
538 members of the Electoral College 270 electoral votes needed to win
The electoral map for the 2016 election, based on populations from the 2010 census
Incumbent President Barack Obama Democratic

The United States presidential election of 2016, scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2016, will be the 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. Voters will select presidential electors who in turn will elect a new president and vice president through the Electoral College. The term limit established in the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the incumbent President, Barack Obama, of the Democratic Party, from being elected to a third term.

The series of presidential primary elections and caucuses is taking place between February 1 and June 14, 2016, staggered among the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. This nominating process is also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party's nominating convention, who then in turn elect their party's presidential nominee. The Republican Convention will take place from July 18 to July 21, 2016. The Democratic Convention will take place from July 25 to July 28, 2016.

Background

Further information: United States presidential election § Procedure

Article Two of the United States Constitution provides that for a person to be elected and serve as President of the United States, the individual must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for a period of no less than 14 years. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the various Political parties of the United States, in which case each party devises a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. The primary elections are usually indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The general election in November is also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the Electoral College; these electors in turn directly elect the President and Vice President.

The incumbent, President Barack Obama, a Democrat and former U.S. Senator from Illinois, is ineligible to seek reelection to a third term due to restrictions of the Twenty-second Amendment; in accordance with Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment, his term expires at noon on January 20, 2017. In the 2008 election, Obama was elected president, defeating the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, receiving 52.9% of the popular vote and 68% of the electoral vote. Obama succeeded two-term Republican President George W. Bush, the former Governor of Texas. Since the end of 2009, polling companies such as Gallup have found Obama's approval ratings to be between 40 and 50 percent. Analysts such as Larry Sabato have noted that Obama's approval ratings could impact the 2016 campaign, helping or hurting the Democratic candidate. If Obama and Vice President Joe Biden serve out the remainder of their respective terms, the voters will elect the 45th President and 48th Vice President of the United States, respectively.

2010 midterm elections

In the 2010 midterm elections, the Democratic Party suffered significant losses in Congress; the Republicans gained 63 seats in the House of Representatives (thus taking control of the chamber), and six seats in the Senate, though short of achieving a majority. As a result of the Republicans' recapture of the House, John Boehner became the 53rd Speaker of the House of Representatives. This made Obama the first President in 16 years to lose the House of Representatives in the first half of his first term, in an election that was characterized by the economy's slow recovery, and the rise of the Tea Party movement.

2012 presidential election

In the 2012 presidential election, incumbent President Barack Obama defeated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, with 51.1% of the popular vote and 332 (or 61.7%) of 538 electoral votes. Meanwhile, Republicans retained their majority of seats in the House of Representatives despite minor losses, while Democrats increased their majority in the Senate.

Speculation about the 2016 campaign began almost immediately following the 2012 campaign, with New York magazine declaring the race had begun in an article published on November 8, 2012, two days after the 2012 election. On the same day, Politico released an article predicting the 2016 general election may be between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, while a New York Times article named Chris Christie and Cory Booker as potential candidates.

2014 midterm elections

In the 2014 midterm elections, voter turnout was the lowest seen in 70 years, with only 34.4% of eligible voters voting. As a result of the election, the Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives, increasing their majority to its largest level since 1928. Republicans also gained a majority in the Senate.

Democratic Party

Main articles: Democratic Party (United States); Democratic Party presidential candidates, 2016; and Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who also served in the U.S. Senate and was the First Lady of the United States, became the first Democrat to announce a major candidacy for the presidency. Clinton made the announcement on April 12, 2015, via a video message. While Nationwide opinion polls in 2015 indicated that Clinton is the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, she faces challenges from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders became the second candidate when he made a formal announcement on April 30 that he was running for the Democratic nomination. September 2015 polling numbers indicated a narrowing gap between Clinton and Sanders. Former Governor of Maryland Martin O'Malley was the third candidate to enter the race, which he did on May 30, 2015. Lincoln Chafee, former Independent Governor and Republican Senator of Rhode Island, announced his candidacy on June 3, 2015. Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb announced his candidacy on July 2, 2015. Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig announced his candidacy on September 6, 2015. On October 20, Jim Webb announced his withdrawal from the Democratic primaries, and is exploring a potential Independent run. Former U.S. Senator from Delaware and incumbent Vice President Joe Biden opted not to run on October 21, ending months of speculation, stating "While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent." Lincoln Chafee withdrew on October 23, stating that he hoped for "an end to the endless wars and the beginning of a new era for the United States and humanity." Lawrence Lessig withdrew on November 2, after failing to qualify for the second officially-sanctioned DNC debate after adoption of a rule change negated polls which before might have necessitated his inclusion in said debate. In an extremely close contest, Hillary Clinton won the Iowa Democratic Caucus by less than one percent. On February 1, 2016, Martin O'Malley withdrew from the presidential race. Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire Primary with sixty percent of the vote, opposed to Clinton's thirty-eight percent. In Nevada, Hillary Clinton won with fifty-three percent of the vote while Bernie Sanders had forty-seven percent of the vote. Secretary Clinton went on to score a decisive victory in South Carolina on February 27, winning just over seventy-three percent of the vote. On March 1, eleven states participated in the "Super Tuesday" primaries, with Clinton winning Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia for a total of 504 pledged delegates, while Sanders won Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont to garner a total of 340 delegates by the end of the night.

Candidates

Individuals included in this section have taken one or more of the following actions: formally announced their candidacy for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination; filed as a Democratic presidential candidate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) (for other than exploratory purposes), or successfully filed for a place on a primary ballot. Candidates are listed alphabetically by surname.

Candidates featured in major polls

Democratic Party (United States) Candidates below have received delegates in various primaries and caucuses.
Hillary Clinton	Bernie Sanders
67th United States Secretary of State (2009–2013)	U.S. Senator from Vermont (2007–present)
Campaign	Campaign

Other candidates

The following notable individuals are on the primary ballot in at least one state.

• Rocky De La Fuente, businessman from California
  • Ballot Access to 3,440 of 4,051 (or 86.57%) Pledged Delegates: Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Democrats Abroad, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia
• Paul T. Farrell Jr., attorney from West Virginia
  • Ballot Access to 37 of 4,051 (or 0.91%) Pledged Delegates: West Virginia
• Keith Russell Judd, former prison inmate, presidential candidate (1996–2012), from Texas
  • Ballot Access to 952 of 4,051 (or 23.50%) Pledged Delegates: California, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas
• Sam Sloan, international Chess player, Libertarian Party presidential candidate in 2012, from New York
  • Ballot Access to 24 of 4,051 (or 0.59%) Pledged Delegates: New Hampshire
• Willie Wilson, businessman and 2015 Chicago mayoral candidate from Illinois
  • Ballot Access to 1,283 of 4,051 (or 31.67%) Pledged Delegates: California, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas
• John Wolfe, Jr., lawyer and politician from Tennessee
  • Ballot Access to 178 of 4,051 (or 4.39%) Pledged Delegates: Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire

The following notable individuals have taken one or both of the following actions: formally announced their candidacy; filed as a candidate with FEC.

• Jeff Boss, 9/11 Truther and perennial candidate from New Jersey
• Harry Braun, researcher, 2004 and 2012 presidential candidate, from Georgia
• David Mills, author and activist from West Virginia

Withdrawn candidates

• Martin O'Malley, 61st Governor of Maryland (2007–2015). Suspended campaign on February 1, 2016
• Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law Professor. Suspended campaign on November 2, 2015
• Lincoln Chafee, 74th Governor of Rhode Island (2011–2015) and former U.S. Senator (1999–2007). Suspended campaign on October 23, 2015
• Jim Webb, former U.S. Senator (2007–2013). Suspended campaign on October 20, 2015

• 
  Former Governor
  Martin O'Malley
  of Maryland
  (campaign)
• 
  Former Governor
  Lincoln Chafee
  of Rhode Island
  (campaign)
• 
  Harvard Law Professor
  Lawrence Lessig
  from Massachusetts
  (campaign)
• 
  Former U.S. Senator
  Jim Webb
  from Virginia
  (campaign)

Republican Party

Main articles: Republican Party (United States); Republican Party presidential candidates, 2016; and Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016

United States Senator Ted Cruz from Texas became the first major candidate to announce a campaign in the 2016 election, which he did on March 23, 2015. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul became the next candidate to announce on April 7, 2015. Marco Rubio, Senator of Florida, became the next candidate, announcing on April 13. Both neurosurgeon Ben Carson and businesswoman Carly Fiorina announced their candidacies on May 4, 2015. Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas and 2008 presidential candidate, announced his candidacy the next day. 2012 presidential candidate and former Senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, announced his campaign on May 27. George Pataki, a former New York Governor, was the next to announce, doing so on May 28, 2015. Lindsey Graham, Senator from South Carolina, announced he was running on June 1. Former Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, who also ran in 2012, announced he was running again on June 4. Former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, joined the race on June 15. Real estate developer and reality TV host, Donald Trump, announced he was running on June 16. Bobby Jindal, outgoing Governor of Louisiana, announced his campaign on June 24. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey announced he was running on June 30. Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker announced his candidacy on July 13. Ohio Governor John Kasich announced his run on July 21. Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore was the last Republican candidate to announce his candidacy, which he did on July 30, 2015.

On September 11, 2015, Rick Perry withdrew from the race. Scott Walker withdrew on September 21. Bobby Jindal withdrew his candidacy on November 17. Lindsey Graham withdrew from the race on December 21. George Pataki withdrew from the race on December 29. Mike Huckabee withdrew on February 1. Rick Santorum and Rand Paul both dropped out on February 3.

Ted Cruz won the Iowa Caucus on February 1, with Donald Trump taking second place, and Marco Rubio finishing third. Trump went on to win the remainder of the February contests: New Hampshire, South Carolina, and the Nevada caucus. Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina both withdrew from the race on February 10, after failing to receive high numbers in the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary. Jim Gilmore withdrew from the race on February 12. Jeb Bush withdrew from the race on February 20, after having received low voter turnout in the Iowa caucus and South Carolina primary. On March 1, eleven states participated in the "Super Tuesday" primaries. While Senator Rubio attained his first primary season victory in the Minnesota caucus and Senator Cruz won Alaska, Oklahoma, and his home state of Texas, Donald Trump managed first place in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia for a total of 237 delegates by the end of the night, cementing his status as the frontrunner for the nomination. Ben Carson suspended his campaign on March 4, after having poor showings on Super Tuesday. On March 6, Cruz won Kansas and Maine, while Trump won Louisiana and Kentucky. Rubio won the Puerto Rico primary on March 6. On March 8, Trump won Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii while Cruz won Idaho. After losing in his home state of Florida on March 15, Marco Rubio suspended his campaign.

Candidates

Individuals included in this section have taken one or both of the following actions: formally announced their candidacy for the Republican Party's presidential nomination; filed as a Republican presidential candidate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) (for other than exploratory purposes). Candidates are listed alphabetically by surname.

Candidates featured in major polls

Republican Party (United States) Candidates included in this section have won one or more primaries and caucuses.
Ted Cruz	John Kasich	Donald Trump
U.S. Senator from Texas (2013–present)	69th Governor of Ohio (2011–present)	Chairman of The Trump Organization (1971–present)
Campaign	Campaign	Campaign

Other candidates

The following notable individuals are on the primary ballot in at least one state.

• Andy Martin, birther theorist and perennial candidate from New York.
  • Ballot Access to 23 of 2,472 (or 0.93%) Pledged Delegates: New Hampshire

Withdrawn candidates

• Marco Rubio, U.S senator from Florida (2011–present). Suspended campaign on March 15, 2016.
• Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon. Suspended campaign on March 4, 2016 and endorsed Donald Trump on March 10, 2016.
• Jeb Bush, 43rd Governor of Florida (1999–2007). Suspended campaign on February 20, 2016 and endorsed Ted Cruz on March 23, 2016.
• Jim Gilmore, 68th Governor of Virginia (1998–2002). Suspended campaign on February 12, 2016.
• Chris Christie, 55th Governor of New Jersey (2010–present). Suspended campaign on February 10, 2016 and endorsed Donald Trump on February 26, 2016.
• Carly Fiorina, Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Suspended campaign on February 10, 2016 and endorsed Ted Cruz on March 9, 2016.
• Rick Santorum, Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1995–2007); US Representative from Pennsylvania (1991–1995). Presidential candidate in 2012. Suspended campaign on February 3, 2016, and endorsed Marco Rubio.
• Rand Paul, U.S. Senator from Kentucky (2011–present). Suspended campaign on February 3, 2016.
• Mike Huckabee, 44th Governor of Arkansas (1996–2007); 12th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (1993–1996). Presidential candidate in 2008. Suspended campaign on February 1, 2016.
• George Pataki, 53rd Governor of New York (1995–2006). Suspended campaign on December 29, 2015, and initially endorsed Marco Rubio, later endorsing John Kasich.
• Lindsey Graham, senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina (2003–present). Suspended campaign on December 21, 2015, and endorsed Jeb Bush and later Ted Cruz.
• Bobby Jindal, 55th Governor of Louisiana (2008–2016). Suspended campaign on November 17, 2015, and endorsed Marco Rubio.
• Scott Walker, 45th Governor of Wisconsin (2011–present). Suspended campaign on September 21, 2015 and endorsed Ted Cruz.
• Rick Perry, 47th Governor of Texas (2000–2015). Suspended campaign on September 11, 2015, and endorsed Ted Cruz.

• 
  U.S. Senator
  Marco Rubio
  from Florida
  (campaign)
• 
  Retired Neurosurgeon
  Ben Carson
  from Maryland
  (campaign)
• 
  Former Governor
  Jeb Bush
  of Florida
  (campaign)
• 
  Former Governor
  Jim Gilmore
  of Virginia
  (campaign)
• 
  Businesswoman
  Carly Fiorina
  from Virginia
  (campaign)
• 
  Governor
  Chris Christie
  of New Jersey
  (campaign)
• 
  U.S. Senator
  Rand Paul
  from Kentucky
  (campaign)
• 
  Former U.S. Senator
  Rick Santorum
  from Pennsylvania
  (campaign)
• 
  Former Governor
  Mike Huckabee
  of Arkansas
  (campaign)
• 
  Former Governor
  George Pataki
  of New York
  (campaign)
• 
  U.S. Senator
  Lindsey Graham
  from South Carolina
  (campaign)
• 
  Former Governor
  Bobby Jindal
  of Louisiana
  (campaign)
• 
  Governor
  Scott Walker
  of Wisconsin
  (campaign)
• 
  Former Governor
  Rick Perry
  of Texas
  (campaign)

Major third parties

Main article: United States third party and independent presidential candidates, 2016

Parties in this section have obtained ballot access in enough states to theoretically obtain the minimum number of electoral votes needed to win the election. Unless otherwise specified, individuals included in this section have taken one or more of the following actions: formally announced their candidacy for the presidential nomination of a third party; formally announced intention to run as an independent candidate and obtained enough ballot access to win the election; filed as a third party or non-affiliated candidate with the FEC (for other than exploratory purposes). Candidates are listed by party and then alphabetically by surname.

Green Party

Further information: Green Party of the United States and Green Party presidential primaries, 2016

Ballot Access to 296 Electoral Votes: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Washington D.C., Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Green Party (United States) Candidates included in this section have received one or more delegates in various primaries and caucuses.
Darryl Cherney	Sedinam Curry	William Kreml	Kent Mesplay	Jill Stein
	29th People's National Convention organizer from California	Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina	Inspector at the Air Pollution Control District of San Diego County (2001–2015)	Town Meeting member from Lexington, Massachusetts (2005–2011)
				Campaign

Libertarian Party

Further information: Libertarian Party (United States) and Libertarian Party presidential primaries, 2016

Ballot Access to 332 electoral votes: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Libertarian Party (United States) Libertarian Party (United States)
Gary Johnson	John McAfee	Austin Petersen
29th Governor of New Mexico (1995–2003)	Businessman and computer scientist from Tennessee	Founder and CEO of Stonegait, LLC from Missouri
Campaign

Other third parties and independents

Main article: United States third party and independent presidential candidates, 2016

Parties and candidates in this section have yet to theoretically obtain the minimum number of electoral votes needed to win the election. Unless otherwise specified, individuals included in this section have taken one or more of the following actions: formally announced their candidacy for the presidential nomination of a minor party; formally announced intention to run as an independent candidate; filed as a minor party or non-affiliated candidate with the FEC (for other than exploratory purposes). Candidates are listed by minor party and then alphabetically by surname.

American Freedom Party

Further information: American Freedom Party

Ballot Access to 6 electoral votes: Mississippi

• Vice-presidential nominee: Tom Bowie, from Maryland
• Bob Whitaker, white supremacist activist from South Carolina, had been the party's nominee since July 2015. Initially nominated for vice president, he moved up when Kenn Gividen resigned the nomination. Whitaker subsequently resigned from the nomination himself in April 2016.

America's Party

Further information: America's Party (political party)

Further information: American Independent Party

Ballot Access to 84 electoral votes: California, Florida

• Tom Hoefling, activist from Iowa

Constitution Party

Further information: Constitution Party (United States)

Ballot Access to 136 electoral votes: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming

• Darrell Castle, 2008 Constitution Party Vice Presidential nominee from Tennessee. Vice Presidential Nominee: Scott Bradley from Utah

Independent American Party

Further information: Independent American Party

Ballot Access to 18 Electoral Votes: New Mexico, Oregon, Utah

• Farley Anderson, activist from Utah. Vice Presidential nominee: Vacant

Nutrition Party

Further information: Nutrition Party

Ballot Access to 9 electoral votes: Colorado

• Rod Silva, restaurateur from New Jersey. Vice-presidential nominee: Vacant

Party for Socialism and Liberation

Further information: Party for Socialism and Liberation

Ballot Access to 29 electoral votes: Florida

• Gloria La Riva, newspaper printer and activist from New Mexico; 2008 presidential nominee. Vice-presidential nominee: Eugene Puryear from the District of Columbia

Peace and Freedom Party

Further information: Peace and Freedom Party

Ballot Access to 84 electoral votes: California, Florida

Prohibition Party

Further information: Prohibition Party

Ballot Access to 21 electoral votes: Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi

• James Hedges, Tax Assessor for Thompson Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania 2002–2007. Vice-presidential nominee: Bill Bayes of Mississippi

Socialist Party USA

Further information: Socialist Party USA

Ballot Access to 18 electoral votes: Ohio

• Mimi Soltysik, former National Co-chair of the Socialist Party USA from California; vice-presidential nominee: Angela Walker of Wisconsin

Veterans Party of America

Further information: Veterans Party of America

Ballot Access to 6 electoral votes: Mississippi

• Chris Keniston, reliability engineer from Texas. Vice-presidential nominee: Deacon Taylor of Nevada

Potential battleground states

Further information: Swing state

In every state except Maine and Nebraska, the winner of the popular vote in the state wins all of the electoral votes of the state (although state legislatures can, by law, change how electors are elected). Maine and Nebraska use the "congressional district method", in which the winner of the state receives two electoral votes and candidates receive additional electoral votes for each congressional district that they win. Recent presidential campaigns have generally focused their resources on a relatively small number of competitive states.

Potential battleground states include Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. Other potential Democratic targets include Nebraska's second congressional district, Missouri, Arizona, Georgia, and Texas. Meanwhile, Republicans may also target Maine's second congressional district, Oregon, New Mexico, Minnesota, and New Jersey. Other states may also become competitive if the close races of 2016 differ from the close races of the 2012 election, or if 2016 becomes a landslide election. Both major parties might decide to target the home states of their nominees or that of their running mates if they are from a swing state or have high favorability in the state or region.

Party conventions

Philadelphia

Cleveland

Salt Lake City

Orlando

Houston

class=notpageimage|

Sites of the 2016 national party conventions.

Democratic Party

Main article: 2016 Democratic National Convention

• July 25–28, 2016: Democratic National Convention to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Republican Party

Main article: 2016 Republican National Convention

• July 18–21, 2016: Republican National Convention to be held in Cleveland, Ohio.

Constitution Party

Main article: Constitution Party National Convention

• April 13–16, 2016: Constitution Party National Convention to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Green Party

Main article: 2016 Green National Convention

• August 4–7, 2016: Green National Convention to be held in Houston, Texas.

Libertarian Party

Main article: 2016 Libertarian National Convention

• May 26–30, 2016: Libertarian National Convention to be held in Orlando, Florida.

Debates

Primary election debates

Main articles:

• Democratic Party presidential debates and forums, 2016
• Republican Party presidential debates and forums, 2016

General election debates

Wright State University
Dayton, OH

Longwood University
Farmville, VA

Washington University
St. Louis, MO

University of Nevada
Las Vegas

class=notpageimage|

Sites of the 2016 general election debates

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a non-profit bipartisan organization controlled by the Republican and Democratic parties, will again be hosting debates between the Democratic and Republican nominees. The three locations chosen to host the presidential debates, and the one location selected to host the vice presidential debate, were announced on September 23, 2015.

Debates among candidates for the 2016 U.S. presidential election

No.	Date	Time	Host	City	Moderator	Participants
P1	September 26, 2016	TBA	Wright State University	Dayton, Ohio	TBA	TBD
VP	October 4, 2016	TBA	Longwood University	Farmville, Virginia	TBA	TBD
P2	October 9, 2016	TBA	Washington University in St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	TBA	TBD
P3	October 19, 2016	TBA	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Las Vegas, Nevada	TBA	TBD
Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, will serve as the backup debate location.
= Sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates

Free & Equal Elections Foundation plans to host a debate between the nominees of the minor parties that have enough ballot access to mathematically obtain the minimum electoral votes needed to win the election, but are not included in the CPD debates. The planned location for this debate is the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, California. As of March 2016, the following parties qualify for this debate:

• Green Party
• Libertarian Party

Debate lawsuit

On June 22, 2015, the advocacy group Level the Playing Field, along with Peter Ackerman, the Green Party, and the Libertarian National Committee, filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Federal Election Commission in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that its failure to uphold debate fairness laws and address the corruption of the Commission on Presidential Debates after multiple unresolved requests to do so intentionally excluded third parties from the election process. The FEC took up the original complaint in a July 16 meeting, with a motion to open rulemaking failing 2–4. Commissioners Ann Ravel (D) and Ellen Weintraub (D) voted aye, and Commissioners Lee Goodman (R), Caroline Hunter (R), Matthew Petersen (R), and Steven Walther (D) voted no.

Because the original complaint became moot after that meeting, the plaintiffs filed another complaint on August 27, amending it on October 22. The FEC responded to that complaint on November 9, denying the vast majority of the claims made without proving their lack of validity.

A motion for the courts to grant leave to amend the complaint further was filed on December 30, and the second amended complaint was submitted on January 5, 2016. At this point, Mitt Romney filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on behalf of himself and Barack Obama. The FEC, on January 19, again denied the vast majority of the claims without proving their lack of validity.

Opinion polling

General election polling

• Nationwide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2016
• Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2016

Democratic primary polling

• Nationwide opinion polling for the Democratic Party 2016 presidential primaries
• Statewide opinion polling for the Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016

Republican primary polling

• Nationwide opinion polling for the Republican Party 2016 presidential primaries
• Statewide opinion polling for the Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016

See also

• United States Senate elections, 2016
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2016
• United States gubernatorial elections, 2016
• United States presidential election, 2016 timeline
• Fundraising for the 2016 United States presidential election

External links

• Template:Dmoz
• 2016 Presidential Form 2 Filers at the Federal Election Commission (FEC)