Though the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation announced Wednesday it would host a third gubernatorial debate, Green Party candidate Nelson Eisman said he was never approached to participate.

"I wasn't aware of this debate until your phone call right now," Eisman said in an interview with The Badger Herald Thursday. "It's really a sad commentary on our democracy."

The debate, slated for Oct. 6 in Milwaukee, will instead feature Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis. Both campaigns indicated they are not opposed to Eisman joining the debates.

"The governor said he will debate whoever is [at the debate,]" Anne Lupardus, deputy press secretary for Doyle's campaign, said. "It's completely up to the debate coordinators."

Green's spokesperson Luke Punzenberger also said the debate format was up to organizers, but added Green is "open to having anyone participate in the debate."

Yet debate organizer We the People/Wisconsin did not extend the opportunity for Eisman to participate in the Sept. 15 or Oct. 20 gubernatorial debates, either.

"It's not a government of the people anymore," Eisman said. "Voters are losing their voice, and the Green Party, here and elsewhere, is trying to give the disenfranchised voters back their voice. But how do we if they don't even get to hear it?"

Eisman added he agreed to a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters but both of the other candidates declined the offer.

"The governor's campaign and our campaign agreed on a number of debates, and that's what we have to stick to," Punzenberger said.

In addition, Lupardus said the two opponents agreed on three debates that worked with their campaign schedules.

But Eisman has been invited and agreed to attend a debate sponsored by the Western Wisconsin Press Club and the nonpartisan political website WisPolitics.com. The debate is scheduled for Oct. 11 in Eau Claire, but Doyle and Green have not yet committed to the event.

Aside from equal access to debates, Eisman said Wisconsin needs sweeping election reforms.

"We need to reform the State Elections and Ethics Boards and have an unbiased, powerful body that oversees elections and runs debates all over the state," Eisman said. "And we need to give equal TV time and media exposure to candidates. These are things that allow voters to make informed decisions."

Eisman added he has also encountered gubernatorial polls being biased and rigged based on the selective questions they ask and the way answers are scored.

Though the WBA did not return phone calls as of press time, according to a release the Oct. 6 debate will involve questions by three separate journalists: Joy Cardin of The Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio; Scott Hackworth, a reporter with WXOW-TV in La Crosse; and Terry Sater, a reporter with WISN-TV in Milwaukee. The debate will be held in the studios of Milwaukee Public Television at the new Discovery World Museum, airing in delayed broadcast at 7 p.m.