DNC Announces Qualification Criteria For Arizona Democratic Presidential Primary Debate

The DNC today released the qualification criteria for participation in the eleventh Democratic presidential primary debate, which will be hosted by CNN and Univision on March 15. The debate will be held in partnership with CHC BOLD.

To qualify for the Arizona debate stage, candidates must meet a delegate threshold based on the total number of pledged delegates allocated prior to the March 15 debate.

The official threshold rules are below:

QUALIFICATION CRITERIA FOR THE 2020 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DEBATE IN ARIZONA

To qualify for the March 15, 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate in Arizona (“Arizona Debate”), candidates must meet the “Delegate Threshold” as detailed below.

Delegate Threshold

To meet the Delegate Threshold for the Arizona Debate, candidates must have been allocated at least 20% of the total number of pledged delegates allocated across all of the contests listed below (“Total Delegate Allocation”) by 9 A.M. Eastern Time on March 15, 2020, as calculated and reported by the Associated Press or CNN:

Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Democrats Abroad, Guam, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont and Washington.

Additional Rules

  • The Total Delegate Allocation will be calculated by adding together all delegates allocated by the Associated Press or CNN to candidates who are actively campaigning for the nomination, those who have suspended or otherwise discontinued their campaigns, and those allocated as “uncommitted.”

  • In the event that the Associated Press or CNN have not allocated a portion of the delegates available in any of the above contests due to the ongoing tabulation of votes, such unallocated delegates will not be counted in the Total Delegate Allocation.

  • The number of delegates needed to qualify for the March Debate will be calculated by multiplying the Total Delegate Allocation by 0.20 and rounding the result to the nearest whole number.

  • Each candidate’s delegate percentage will be calculated by dividing the number of pledged delegates allocated to them by the Associated Press or CNN by the Total Delegate Allocation and rounding the result to the nearest whole number.