The debate set at Washington University in 2004. A similar town-hall format has been announced for this year’s debate.
For the third time in Washington University in St. Louis’ storied history of hosting debates, a town-hall meeting has been selected as the format for the Oct. 9 debate. The announcement was made July 7 by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Citizen participants, uncommitted voters selected by the Gallup Organization, will ask half of the questions directly to the candidates. The remaining questions will be posed by the moderator based on topics of broad public interest as reflected in social media and other sources at the time of the debate. The candidates will have two minutes to respond to each question, and there will be an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate further discussion.
Debates at Washington University in 2000 and in 2004 also were conducted in town-hall formats.