ABC News Candidate Qualification Requirements for the 2024 Presidential Debate

ABC News candidate qualification requirements for the 2024 election presidential debate planned for Tuesday, Sept. 10, include the following:

All participants must meet the requirements outlined in Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution to serve as president and must have filed a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. All participants must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots, as certified by the Secretary of State or the relevant election authority in each state, to attain a majority (270) of electoral votes in the presidential election by Sept. 3, 2024. All participants must agree to accept the rules and format of the debate, as formulated by ABC News.

All participants must reach at least 15% support in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet ABC News standards and the following additional requirements:

Polls must be conducted using probability sampling by one of the following entities or pairs of entities: ABC News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, The New York Times/Siena College, Quinnipiac University, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The four qualifying polls must be conducted by different organizations.

Polls must be fielded and released between Aug. 1, 2024, and Sept. 3, 2024. Only polls released publicly and fielded entirely inside the window will qualify.

In the event that a poll provides results for both registered and likely voters, the likely voter result will be considered to be the qualifying result.

The determination on whether a candidate meets all the above requirements and is therefore eligible to participate in the debate will be made promptly after Sept. 3, 2024.

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