The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday the five polls that will decide which candidates receive invitations to the upcoming debates in September and October.
The national polls that will be used to determine eligibility for the three presidential debates are the ABC-Washington Post, CBS-New York Times, CNN-Opinion Research Corporation, Fox News and NBC-Wall Street Journal polls.
The commission said the polls were chosen with the professional advice of Frank Newport, editor in chief of Gallup, and that they were selected based on the reliable frequency of polling and sample size, the soundness of the survey methodology and the longevity and reputation of the polling organizations.
GOP nominee Donald Trump and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton are virtually guaranteed to receive invitations to all three debates, since candidates must achieve a minimum threshold of 15 percent in an average of the polls.
But Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein are hoping that voters’ distaste for the two major-party nominees will propel them high enough in the polls to get onto the national debate stage as well.
The commission said the criteria will be applied in “mid-September,” and that it will use “the average of those organizations’ most recent publicly reported results at the time of the determination.”
Candidates also have to demonstrate they’re constitutionally eligible to be president and that they’re on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning 270 Electoral College votes.
The first debate is scheduled for Sept. 26 at Hofstra University. The commission said if a candidate is invited to the first presidential debate, that person’s running mate will be invited to the vice presidential debate on Oct. 4.
The criteria will be reapplied between the first and second presidential debates and then again between the second and third debates, according to the commission. The second debate is to take place on Oct. 9 and the third debate is to take place on Oct. 19.
According to an average of the most recent ABC-Post, NBC/WSJ and CNN/ORC polls — surveys that tested the four-way horse race — Mrs. Clinton is at about 44 percent, Mr. Trump is at 36 percent, Mr. Johnson is at 9 percent, and Ms. Stein is at about 5 percent.
A recent Fox News poll had Mrs. Clinton at 44 percent, Mr. Trump at 35 percent, and Mr. Johnson at 12 percent in a three-way contest.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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