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close up of political voting pins for 2020 election on white(Photo: liveslow, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

MUNCIE, Ind. With the election rapidly approaching and the COVID-19 pandemic still in full swing, the usualcircuit of forums and debates associated with an election year have gone virtual.

COVID-19 continues to be a barrier for citizens to meet safely in large gatheringsand for candidates tocampaign like during a normal election.

To combat this, several community partners have created the Community Candidate Forum Series,a lineup ofvirtualforums that will serve as anopportunityfor candidatesrunning for local, state and federal officeto answer moderated questions alongside theiropponentsfor the election.

Eachvirtualforumwill beconductedvia Zoom video conferencing and broadcast via Facebook, as well as on The Star Press website.

Community partners that made the event possible include the Bowen Center for Public Affairs atBall State University, Citizens of Delaware County for Good Government, League of Women Voters of Muncie-Delaware County, Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, Muncie Action Plan, Muncie Resists, NAACP Muncie Branchand Shafer Leadership Academy.

All forumswill be moderated by Ball State University'sChip Taylor with theBowen Center for Public Affairs. Taylor has moderated several political forums in previous elections.

Forums for specific races will be on the following nights:

The problem for the forums is there are several campaigns, primarily Republican candidates, who have declined to participate.

Here is who is, and isn't, attending each forum, according to forum organizers:

Commissioner candidates

Delaware County Council candidates

State Representative candidates

6th District Congressional Candidates

Victor Whitehead, the local Republican Party chairman, told The Star Press on Monday that he had not instructed candidates not to attend the forums.

In order to learn more about the debateand submit questions for consideration by the moderators, visitcommunitycandidateforums.com.

Read or Share this story: https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2020/09/14/local-election-forums-begin-tuesday-without-some-republicans/5791665002/

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Local election forums begin Tuesday, but without some Republican candidates - The Star Press