On January 21, Free and Equal held a press conference in the Capital Press Room in the Illinois legislature in Springfield. Here is the news coverage from the Springfield daily newspaper. Free and Equal will have several arms. One will be a lobbying group. Already, Free & Equal has identified an Illinois State Senator who is likely to introduce a bill soon to improve ballot access in that state.

Another arm of Free and Equal will be to provide paid petitioning teams for independent and minor party candidates.

Christina Tobin conceived of Free and Equal. She is well-positioned for that work. She is the daughter of James Tobin, the Libertarian Party nominee for Governor of Illinois in 1998. Tobin was kept off the ballot by a challenge to the Libertarian statewide petition, even though the petition-checking process showed that he had enough valid signatures and was otherwise qualified. One could say that the experience radicalized Tobin. Tobin gained valuable experience in managing petition drives, by doing that work nationwide for Ralph Nader in 2008.