Forum Information

Attending / Viewing a Forum

Upcoming forums are listed on our Events page.  These are always open to the public and free to attend.  Afterwards, the forums are generally streamed by SETV (Channel 9), and subsequently available for streaming on the Luzerne County YouTube channel.

Requesting a Forum:

The League holds forums before elections in our region at the request of a candidate.  Any candidate (or one of the candidate’s election staff) may reach us as described on our Contact page.

Forum Rules:

The League’s forums proceed under the following rules:

1. The order in which the candidates will speak will be determined by card draw.  In forums with more than two candidates, the speaking order will determine the seating order.
2. Each candidate will be given time for an opening statement, at the beginning of the forum.
3. Each candidate will be given time for a closing statement, at the forum’s conclusion.  The order of closing statements will be the reverse of the opening opening statements.
4. Questions will be asked at the forum by the moderator.  The order in which the questions are asked will be rotated so that the first question will be asked of the candidate who went second in the opening statement, and so on.
5. Each question will be asked of all candidates, each of whom will be given a specified period to respond to the question.
6. Candidates should respond to questions asked by the moderator, but may not ask questions of the other candidates.
7. Questions will be accepted from the audience.  Such questions must be in writing, will be collected by League representatives, and will be asked by the forum moderator. 

   Questions should be addressed to all candidates and should be limited to one subject only.

   A League representative may rephrase a question for clarity, combine questions on the same topic, or reject questions that personally target one candidate or are purposefully stated in uncivil language.

8. No political signs, displays, or clothing will be allowed during the forum.
9. Campaign literature may not be circulated in the forum room.  Instead, campaign literature may be placed on a table provided for the purpose.
10. The audience will hold all applause until the end of the forum.
11. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization. Candidates are asked not to use the League name or specific information from the forum in campaign ads or for campaign purposes.
12. Unauthorized audio/video recording, streaming or photographing is not allowed.
13. No part of any authorized or unauthorized recording of this debate may be used or distributed by any person, candidate, campaign, or political group for any purpose whatsoever.