Explainer: How Presidential debates are conducted in the US

US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, are all set for a fierce face-off in the second and most-anticipated debate, organised by ABC News ahead of the US Presidential polls.

Slated for 9 pm (EST) on Tuesday (September 10), the 90-minute event, will be held at the Philadelphia National Constitution Center. The first debate was held in June between Trump and President Joe Biden, who later bowed out from the race, paving the way for Harris.

The Trump-Harris face-off is the second such debate in the 2024 Presidential polls which has ditched the debate commission and instead chosen a news channel as a platform. The June debate was organised by CNN after Biden expressed differences over the debate format set by the CPD. Trump had pledged to not work with the commission much earlier in 2022.

The debate will be broadcast on ABC, ABC News Live, Disney + and Hulu. The debate can also be streamed on the ABC app on a smartphone or tablet.

Ahead of the anticipated event, here is a look at how Presidential debates are organised in the US and the elements that go into its making:

What are Presidential debates?

They are a series of debates held as part of campaigns ahead of the Presidential polls in the United States.

Although these debates are not mandated by law, they have become a part of the US poll process and are usually held towards the end of the campaign process after key political parties have nominated their presidential candidates.

The debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960 is mostly considered the first televised debate in America. However, some historians say that the first televised debates happened between representatives of Democratic candidate and former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and Republican President Dwight Eisenhower on November 4, 1956.

However, following the Kennedy-Nixon debate in 1960, no debates were held in the elections in 1964, 1968 and 1972.

Who organises and sponsors the debates?

The Commission of Presidential Debates (CPD), a non-profit organisation, since 1988 has been organising all the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates in the US.

However, in the 2024 Presidential polls, Republican candidate Trump and President Biden, who at that time was running for the post, broke tradition by choosing to hold two debates outside the CPD’s purview and with TV channels instead. While the first debate between Trump and Biden, held on June 27, was sponsored by CNN, the second between Trump and Kamala Harris – who has taken over Biden as the Democrat candidate – scheduled for September 10, will be sponsored by ABC News.

How are candidates invited to participate in the debate?

CPD rules say that a candidate to receive an invitation to debate must fulfil the following criteria:

1. Be constitutionally eligible to hold the office of the US President.

2. Appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning a majority vote in the electoral college.

3. Have a level of support of at least 15 per cent of the national electorate, as determined by five national public opinion polling organisations, using the average of those organisations’ most recently publicly-reported results at the time of the determination.

No presidential candidate or nominee of a party receives an automatic invitation.

The CPD on its website says that the goal of setting the criteria is to identify “candidates whose support among the electorate places them among the candidates who have a realistic chance of being elected President of the United States.”

Asserting that its debates are not “intended to serve as a springboard for a candidate with only scant support,” CPD says participation is “determined by the level of public support a candidate enjoys as Election Day approaches”.

Eligibility criterion set by ABC for Sept 10 debate

ABC News has set rules similar to the CPD for the September 10 debate. To qualify for the debate, a candidate must:

1. Be constitutionally eligible to hold the office of the US president.

2. File a formal statement of candidacy to the Federal Election Commission

3. By September 3 have their name appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral threshold to win the presidency

4. Agree to accept he rules and format of the debate

5. Receive at least 15 per cent in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet ABC’s standards and requirements, such as ones conducted by CNN, ABC News, and Fox News, among others.

How is the debate format set?

The format of the debates have changed over the years. Questions sometimes have come from one or more journalists and at times from the audience.

While the first set of debates held by CPD followed the old model of having a moderator with a panel of three journalists, by 1999, a new format allowed citizens to ask questions to the candidates in a town hall setting. The CPD introduced a candid setting in 2000 by seating the candidates at a table with the moderator.

A different format was used for the first and last presidential debates in 2012, 2016 and 2020. Each of these two debates were split into six 15-minute segments, during each of which the candidates discussed one major issue facing the country. The topics for both were chosen by the moderators and announced much before the debates.

Reports say in the campaigns between 1988 and 2000, the formats were usually determined by a secret MoU signed between the two major candidates.

The September 10 ABC News debate, which will be moderated by two journalists, will have no live audience and have two commercial breaks.

Each candidate will be given two minutes to answer each question and a two-minute rebuttal. They will be given a minute more for a follow-up, clarification or response. A candidate at the end of the debate will be given two minutes for a closing statement.

The candidates will be required to stand at a podium with their mics on mute except for when it is their turn to speak. They are also barred from using pre-written notes on stage. They will be allowed to carry a pen, pad of paper and a bottle of water to the stage and cannot interact with their campaign staff during the commercial break.

A coin flip last gave the Trump campaign the option to choose his preferred podium position or order of closing arguments. The former president’s campaign has chosen to give the final statement.

How are the moderators chosen?

The CPD which chooses its moderators weeks ahead of the debates says they need to fulfil the following criteria to be able to hold the debates:

1. Familiarity with the candidates and the major issues of the presidential campaign.

2. Extensive experience in live television broadcast news.

3. An understanding that the debate should focus maximum time and attention on the candidates and their views.

The CPD says that the questions are framed by the moderations and are not shared with the commission or with the candidates in advance.

The moderators also do not meet the campaigns neither do the latter have a role in choosing the former.

The moderators for the September 10 debate are World News Tonight anchor and managing editor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis.

Who decides the venues?

The CPD shortlists venues for the debates by accepting bids from interested parties. Over the years a majority of the debates organised by the CPD have been held on college and university campuses.

Popularity of Presidential debates

The Presidential debates are one of the most watched programmes on television. Over the years, the debates have been broadcast live on TV, and radio and most recently on the internet.

According to Nielsen Media Research, over 73 million people watched the Trump-Biden debate during the 2020 Presidential polls, making it the third-most watched debates.

The report said that the most watched event was the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016 which hit a record viewership of 84 million.

The second spot was grabbed by the Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan debate in 1980.

Similarly, in June this year, over 51 million people watched the Biden and Trump debate on CNN.