The rules of democratic debate will make access to the stage more difficult



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WASHINGTON – The Democratic National Committee said on Monday that it would require a slight increase in voting and fundraising thresholds that presidential candidates must meet to qualify for the party's primary debate in November, a move that could again shrink the field of participating candidates.

To be invited to the November debate, candidates must have received donations from at least 165,000 individual donors and meet one of two requirements for the ballot. They must receive support of 3% in four national or previous polls organized by qualified pollsters or 5% support in two polls in the first four states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

The polls will count if they were published between September 13 and midnight, seven days before the debate. The date and location of the November debate have yet to be announced.

According to a New York Times analysis, at least eight candidates have already reached the threshold of 165,000 donors, although a greater number of applicants have also reached it. Only three eligible polling stations have been published since 13 September.

Applicants must also prove that they have at least 600 unique donors in at least 20 states, territories of the United States or in the District of Columbia, Washington District. I said.

As the Democratic primary progressed, party officials progressively tightened the standards for qualifying the debate, making it increasingly difficult to remove the bar.

The 20 candidates who participated in the two-night debates held in June and July had to collect only 65,000 people or collect 1% support in three eligible ballots. The qualification standards for this month's debate were much stricter: candidates had to collect donations from 130,000 unique donors and get 2% support in four eligible ballots.

Only 10 candidates crossed the top bar and the debate lasted only one night. With the addition of Tom Steyer, the former investor in hedge funds, 11 candidates have already qualified for the October debate, which has the same requirements. Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii only needs an additional election result to qualify.

The modest increase in the threshold of the November debate has been a relief for the bubble campaigns preparing a requirement of 260,000 individual donors, which would have forced uncomfortable decisions as to the opportunity to divert resources from A basic organization online advertising looking for new donors.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington and John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, gave up the race in August after it became apparent that they would only qualify not for the debates of the autumn. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio resigned last week after failing to qualify for the September debate and realized that he was left with almost no chance of getting on stage. next month.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former Beto Representative O. Rourke of Texas, both of whom participated in the September debate and qualified for October, e-mailed calls to supporters informing them that they could be excluded from the scene in November and December. without a slight increase in their fundraising. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey sent a message to his supporters over the weekend, saying that without a $ 1.7 million injection by the end of the month, his campaign might no longer be viable .

Montana's Governor Steve Bullock, who did not qualify for the September debate and is unlikely to be on the scene for October, was one of the most outspoken critics of the process.

He renewed his attacks this month after it became clear that Mr. Steyer would be eligible for the October debate after using millions of dollars of his money to buy commercials that would have him. helped to make donations and improve his position at the polls.

"At this point, there is not much left to say about a set of rules that have allowed a billionaire to finance themselves on the debate scene, while governors and senators with decades of experience in the function public were excluded from the race. Said Mr Bullock, who failed to win 2% in a single eligible ballot. "This process is a failure for the Democrats and does nothing to help beat Donald Trump next November."

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