The Not-So-Democratic, Democratic Polling Requirements (DNC)
Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang sent a memorandum to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez requesting more polls be conducted in turn of DNC increasing the requirements for the Democratic debate in January (the last debate before the primaries begin).
The spokesperson responded saying, “The DNC has been more than inclusive throughout this entire process with an expansive list of qualifying polls, including 26 polls for the December debate, more than half of which were state polls.” But what they fail to mention is that it has been well over a month since that last poll was conducted. They also state that sponsoring a poll would “break with the long standing practice of both parties using independent polling” and would not be an appropriate use of funds. If this were to be true, more independent polling sources would be qualifying for the debates, but this isn’t so.
The seventh debate requirements were changed the day after the 6th democratic debate. New requirements include 225,000 individual donors, at least 5% or more in 4 early voting states (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada), or at least 7% in two early voting states. Yang has the individual donor requirement but fails to meet the polling percentages.
Today, December 30th, 2019, Andrew Yang tweeted at the DNC to sponsor polls in the early voting states, mentioning that “It has been 47 days since a qualifying poll in Iowa, New Hampshire, or Nevada was taken. As you know, big shifts can happen within short periods in this race, as we’ve already witnessed multiple times.” After the debate, Andrew Yang raised $750,000 in 24 hours after the debate. How can candidates meet the polling requirements if there are no qualifying polls before the deadline?
Yang’s tweet sparked outrage on twitter, trending number one with #pollthepeople. Yang’s campaign manager Zach Graumann tweeted from their town hall in Nashua, New Hampshire saying this:
Many other Yang supporters tweeted their support to #pollthepeople, reaching well-over 40 thousand tweets. There has been no update from the DNC after this has happened. It will be interesting to see if the DNC changes its stance after the spark of controversy.
