The Independent View: CPD Announces 2016 Nonpartisan Candidate Selection Criteria

Each election cycle, hundreds of individuals declare their candidacy for the Office of President of the United States, including many who do not seek the nomination of a Major Political Party. Federal Election Commission regulations require a debate sponsor to make its candidate selection decisions on the basis of "pre-established, objective" criteria. After a thorough and wide-ranging review of alternative approaches to determining who is invited to participate in the General election debates it will sponsor, the nonpartisan, non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) has released its 2016 Nonpartisan Candidate Selection Criteria.

Under the 2016 criteria, in addition to being Constitutionally eligible, candidates must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning a majority vote in the Electoral College, and have a level of support of at least 15% of the National Electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations’ most recently publicly-reported results at the time of the determination. The polls to be relied upon will be selected based on the quality of the methodology employed, the reputation of the polling organizations and the frequency of the polling conducted. CPD will identify the selected polling organizations well in advance of the time the criteria are applied.

The CPD’s determination with respect to participation in the CPD’s first-scheduled debate will be made after Labor Day 2016, but sufficiently in advance of the first-scheduled debate to allow for orderly planning. Invitations to participate in the Vice-Presidential debate will be extended to the running mates of each of the Presidential candidates qualifying for participation in the CPD’s first Presidential debate. Invitations to participate in the second and third of the CPD’s scheduled Presidential debates will be based upon satisfaction of the same multiple criteria prior to each debate.

The CPD adopted its 2016 criteria based on the recommendations of a working group of its Board chaired by former League of Women Voters President Dorothy Ridings, who serves as a CPD Director. Ridings stated, "We considered a wide array of approaches to the candidate selection issue. We concluded that CPD serves its voter education mission best when, in the final weeks of the campaign, based on pre-established, published, objective and transparent criteria, it identifies those individuals whose public support places them among the leading candidates and invites them to debate the issues of the day. We also concluded that the best available measure of public support is high-quality public opinion polling conducted near the time of the debates."

Ridings noted that, "Under the CPD's nonpartisan criteria, no candidate or nominee of a party receives an automatic invitation. The CPD's objective criteria are applied on the same basis to all declared candidates, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof." Ridings explained, "During the course of the campaign, the candidates are afforded many opportunities in a great variety of forums to advance their candidacies. The purpose of the criteria is to identify those candidates whose support from the electorate places them among the candidates who have a realistic chance of being elected President of the United States." Ridings added, "The realistic chance need not be overwhelming, but it must be more than theoretical."

CPD Co-Chairs Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. and Michael D. McCurry noted that, “We are mindful of the changes in the electorate and the large number of voters who now self-identify as independents. We believe our candidate selection criteria appropriately address this dynamic. The CPD's criteria make participation open to any candidate, regardless of the candidate's party affiliation or status as an independent, in whom the public has demonstrated significant interest and support." The Co-Chairs further explained, "It is appropriate for a debate sponsor to take the campaign as it finds it in the final weeks leading up to Election Day. The CPD's debates are not intended to serve as a springboard for a candidate with only very modest support. Participation in the debates is determined by the level of public support a candidate enjoys as Election Day approaches." The criteria for 2016 were adopted by a majority vote of the CPD Board.

With the 2016 Presidential election, with major Party candidates will low approval ratings, there is no better time to give support to Minor Party candidates. This election cycle, there is a Minor Party that is getting close to the 15% criteria.

The Libertarian Party Presidential ticket, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R) and former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R), think a Third-Party effort may be more likely to succeed this year than in past elections.

Johnson and Weld, both of whom are Libertarians, were nominated at the Libertarian Convention in late May and are promoting an agenda of Fiscal Conservatism and Social Liberalism.

Voter discontent with the two presumptive Major Party choices, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, gives them a chance to break through, they will argue.

So we need to give them a chance to be part of the debates.