Judge dismisses debate lawsuit filed by Gary Johnson and Jill

Stein
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are expected to make the cut.
Other critics of the debate commission have made similar claims in the past.
"To be excluded from the debates is an 'electoral death sentence,'" the plaintiffs said.
Stein said on CNN's "Reliable Sources" in June that media coverage of the Green Party was vital to
making voters aware of her candidacy. Johnson is currently averaging roughly 10% support in the
national polls that present a four-way race.
The two campaigns sued the Commission on Presidential Debates last September, arguing that the
commission and the Democratic and Republican parties conspired to block "competition" in 2012.
"There is clearly an unprecedented desire for alternatives to the Republican and Democratic
nominees, and voters deserve an opportunity to see and hear that there are, in fact, other credible,
serious choices."
Commission officials declined to comment on Friday, but they are paying close attention to the polls
for Johnson and Stein's campaigns.

The clock is ticking for both campaigns.

Johnson and Stein are seeking spots on
the all-important presidential debate
stage this fall.
But federal judge Rosemary M.?Collyer
threw out the lawsuit on Friday.
About 1.6 million total viewers tuned in,
a big uptick from the 929,000 who
watched the first Libertarian town hall televised by CNN back in June.
"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 commission said. No third-party
candidate since then has polled as well as Johnson has this year.
The commission, led by both Democrats and Republicans, has organized all of the general election
debates since 1988.
"With Governor Johnson consistently polling in double-digits, we continue to believe that the CPD
should make the right and fair decision to invite him to participate in the upcoming debates,"

Nielson said Friday.

"You can't win the presidency if you're not in that game," he said.
Johnson and one of his rivals, presumptive Green Party nominee Jill Stein, sued the commission last
September, alleging violations of antitrust law and the First Amendment. The first debate is
scheduled to take place on Monday, September 26.
CNN has scheduled a Green Party town hall on August 17.
In mid-September, the commission will add up five national polls and invite the candidates who are
averaging at least 15% support.
No third party candidate has participated in the debates since Ross Perot in 1992.
The town hall had strikingly high ratings -- it was the day's most-watched program on cable news
among 25- to 54-year-olds. Stein is averaging about 5% support.
Johnson, too, talked about the importance of the fall debates during CNN's Libertarian party town
hall on Wednesday.
CNNMoney (New York) First published August 5, 2016: 7:19 PM ET
. The suit had implications for this year's debates, as well.
"We are exploring our options," Johnson campaign manager Ron Nielson said afterward, "with the
firm resolve that this case and the larger issue of fair debates are too important to simply allow such
an arbitrary dismissal."
Nielson said the campaign's lawyers believe there are "several serious flaws in the court's basis and
reasoning."
The Stein campaign had no immediate comment.
But Judge Collyer said Johnson and Stein's antitrust claims "fail as a matter of well-established law."
And she said the First Amendment argument did not apply because the commission is a private
nonprofit, not a government entity.
The group spelled out the criteria for debate inclusion back in October 2015