Before 1988, the League of Women Voters sponsored the presidential debates, but after the George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis campaigns secretly agreed to a "memorandum of understanding" that would decide which candidates could participate in the debates, which individuals would be panelists (and therefore able to ask questions), and the height of the podiums. The League of Women Voters rejected the demands. They then released a statement which said that they were withdrawing support for the debates. The League of Women Voters said, "the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter".

It is therefore the purpose of this petition to gain enough signatures so that the League of Women Voters return to sponsor the debate and to remove the (CPD) Commission of Presidential Debates. The League of Women Voters would be charged with picking panelists (those who ask the questions) and also collecting questions from the American people. They would assist in the height of the podiums and which cities would host the debates. The League of Women Voters would allow any Presidential Candidate who can receive 500,000 signatures from the American public be allowed in to the Presidential Debates.