Poll: Majority Says Let Gary Johnson Debate

A new national Morning Consult poll released Thursday says a majority of voters want Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson to take part in the presidential debates.

Fifty-two percent of voters said Johnson should be included in the Sept. 26 presidential debate alongside Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Twenty-two percent said they don't want Johnson included on the debate stage, and 26 percent don't know or have no opinion.

Slightly fewer respondents said Green Party nominee Jill Stein should be included in the debates. Forty-seven percent called for her inclusion, with 26 percent saying no.

Third-party candidates need to reach 15 percent support on average across five national polls to make the debate stage, as determined by the Presidential Debate Commission.

To be on the debate stage, a candidate has to have at least 15 percent of the average of five selected national polls. 

Johnson is at 7.4 percent and Stein at 3.1 percent, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls that include them.

Twenty-five percent said the presidential debates will be "very important" when deciding who they will cast a vote for in November. Another 20 percent said the debates won't be important at all.

About 40 percent of voters think Clinton will win the debate, and 31 percent think Trump will.

The poll was reported in The Hill.