Sanders Campaign Press Release - Practicing Democracy with More Debates

BURLINGTON, Vt. – More than 208,000 people have signed an online petition at BernieSanders.com calling on the Democratic National Committee to host more presidential debates.

"The people of this country are tired of political gossip, personal attacks and ugly 30-second ads. They want the candidates to engage in serious discussions about the very serious issues facing our country today," Sen. Bernie Sanders said in an e-mail asking supporters to sign the petition.

As of today, 208,337 have signed the petition asking the DNC to hold more debates sooner than the six presidential primary debates it has sanctioned.

Sanders proposed a series of debates beginning this summer to put candidates on a national stage speaking directly to voters and challenging each other to detail solutions to the problems facing the country. "It means that we can take the issues that define our campaign — income inequality, taking on Wall Street, creating jobs — directly to voters across the country."

The senator also said debates would get more people involved and encourage greater turnout on Election Day. In 2008, he noted, a series of debates helped boost turnout by voters who understood more about the candidates and their positions on the issues.