The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday said it is increasing the polling and fundraising requirements to qualify for its third presidential primary debate, to be held in September.
To qualify, candidates must receive 2 percent or more in support in at least four qualifying polls, which can be national polls or surveys in the early presidential states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada. The polls have to be released between June 28 and Aug. 28.
Candidates also have to prove that they have gotten campaign contributions from at least 130,000 donors, including 400 unique donors in at least 20 states. The DNC said the new qualifications will remain in place for its October primary debate.
The third debate will be held on Sept. 12, with the potential for a second night on Sept. 13. It will air on ABC and on Univision with a Spanish translation.
To qualify for the opening DNC debate next month, candidates have to hit at least 1 percent support in three polls or demonstrate that they’ve gotten at least 65,000 donations, including at least 200 donors from at least 20 U.S. states.
The debate, which will be held over the course of two nights on June 26 and June 27, will be limited to 20 total candidates, and the DNC will use a ranking system if more than 20 candidates meet at least one of the requirements.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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