On Monday, the Federal Debate Commission announced which five national polls will be averaged to determine which candidates are receiving enough support to participate in presidential debates. Candidates must be polling above 15 percent nationwide to debate, which means Gary Johnson and Jill Stein will need to get their numbers up if they want to debate Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the fall.
The polls, which were chosen with help from Gallop editor-in-chief Frank Newport, will be ABC-Washington Post, CBS-New York Times, CNN-Opinion Research Corporation, Fox News, and NBC-Wall Street Journal. According to the commission, “The criteria will be reapplied between the first and second presidential debates and the second and third presidential debates.”
CNN averaged the current results of the five selected national polls. In a period that covers July 29 to August 4, Clinton was polling at 44 percent, Trump at 36 percent, Johnson at 10 percent, and Stein at 5 percent. (Because the most recent CBS and Fox News polls did not include Stein, her average was based on the three polls that did include the Green Party candidate.) Though Johnson may seem close to qualifying, experts say it doesn’t look likely that he’ll make the cut.
The first presidential debate will take place on September 26 in Hempstead, N.Y. Candidates who qualify for the first debate will qualify for the entire ticket, and their vice presidential nominees will debate October 4 in Farmville, Va. The second and third debates will be held October 9 in St. Louis, and October 19 in Las Vegas. Each debate will be 90 minutes, and the format of each has already been set, though Donald Trump has said that he may try to negotiate different terms. Will Trump show?
(Via CNN Money)