Five years ago, the Indiana Coalition for Open Government joined a broad-based array of citizen and media organizations to create the Indiana Debate Commission. It was an ambitious project with the idea of establishing a more open and citizen-focused debate process in Indiana. Now we’re glad to report that the commission (IDC) is a going concern that this year is organizing five debates featuring the candidates for governor and U.S. senator.

The commission is the only incorporated and independent debate group in the nation, according to the IDC website. Working on behalf of voters with a shoestring budget and an all-volunteer board, it determines formats, solicits and selects questions from citizens and works with campaigns and media organizations to ensure debates that are made available both live and archived to audiences across Indiana.

ICOG is a financial contributor to the Debate Commission and is proud of the organization’s accomplishments. And, there’s still one debate to go this year – the final gubernatorial debate in Fort Wayne on October 25. For details about that and the IDC’s work overall, check out the IDC website.