WASHINGTON, June 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic party announced on Thursday that it would exclude specific polls from the qualification criteria for the first inner party presidential debate, a change that could possibly bar a candidate from the event.
The party's previous rules stated that any candidate that clinches 1 percent support rate in three different polls conducted by 18 media outlets or receives donations from 65,000 individual donors are eligible.
While on Thursday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced that two ABC News and Washington Post polls, one of which qualified U.S. state of Montana Governor Steve Bullock for the debate, would no longer be eligible polls.
The new rule could exclude Bullock from the race. Bullock scored 1 percent of support from a ABC poll that the Democratic Party has now excluded. It is unclear if he can make up for the loss before the June 12 deadline.
"This secret rule change affects only one candidate," wrote Bullock campaign manager Jenn Ridder in a memo to reporters Thursday. "That means the DNC is singling out the only Democrat who won a Trump state, and potentially blocking him from the debate stage."
The Democratic Party is facing about two dozen candidates vying for the party's nomination in next year's presidential election, which puts the DNC in a difficult position of setting a fair playing field for all contenders.
The Democratic Party's pressure is heightened by its alleged acts of favoritism during the last election cycle, in which internal emails revealed that party officials tipped the primary race in Hillary Clinton's favor over Bernie Sanders.
The allegations seriously undermined the party's credibility and left many of the party's voters who supported Sanders furious.
Sanders, a U.S. Senator from the state of Vermont, is making a second run for the party nomination this year, along with former Vice President Joe Biden.
