D.C. Mun. Regs. r. 3-4210
For the purpose of this section, "covered office" shall mean the offices of Mayor,
Attorney General, Council Chairman, member of the Council elected at-large, and member of the State Board of Education elected at-large.
For the purpose of this section, "program participating candidate" shall mean any candidate who has been certified by the Director of Campaign Finance as a participating candidate in the Fair Elections Program.
For the purpose of this section, "non-participating candidate" shall mean a candidate who has not been certified by the Director of Campaign Finance as a participating candidate in the Fair Elections Program.
The Director of Campaign Finance shall conduct at least one debate for each covered office in a contested primary, special, and general election in which at least one candidate for nomination or election is a program participating candidate. When there are no program participating candidates for a covered office, no debate shall be required for that particular office.
For a contested primary election for a covered office, all partisan program participating candidates in that primary election shall participate in the debate. If there is at least one program participating candidate, then partisan non-participating candidates for a covered office who have obtained ballot access in their party's primary election shall be invited to participate in the debate. Invited candidates shall indicate their acceptance of the debate invitation in writing on or before the deadline provided in the invitation.
For a contested special election or general election for a covered office, all program participating candidates shall participate in the debate. If there is at least one program participating candidate, then non-participating candidates for election to a covered office shall be invited to participate in the debate. Invited candidates shall indicate their acceptance of the debate invitation in writing on or before the deadline provided in the invitation.
An invited candidate who accepts an invitation to debate may later withdraw from participation in writing. An invited candidate's debate withdrawal statement shall be presented to the public unedited and as soon as practicable.
Any debate for each covered office shall have at least two opposing candidates participating in the debate. If there is only one program participating candidate and no invited candidates accept the invitation to debate, then the debate requirement shall be waived and no debate event will be scheduled. If the number of candidates participating in a scheduled debate becomes fewer than two, the debate requirement shall be waived for the program participating candidate and the debate event for that covered office shall be canceled.
The Director, at his or her discretion, may seek a co-sponsor for any debate. For primary elections, debate co-sponsors may include partisan organizations affiliated with the party conducting the primary election. For special or general elections, debate co-sponsors shall be non-partisan organizations.
Debate co-sponsorship shall be obtained by agreement with the co-sponsor organization and executed in writing, specifying the Director's and co-sponsor's individual responsibilities for carrying out the debate event(s). No co-sponsorship agreement shall be effective unless each debate co-sponsor agrees to the following:
Non-participating candidates who have qualified for ballot access for a covered office prescribed in § 4206.1 may participate in a debate for that covered office, pursuant to the requirements under §§ 4210.5 and 4210.6.
If there is no other participating candidate or non-participating candidate who is willing to participate in a debate for a covered office, then the requirements under §§ 4210.5 and 4210.6 shall be waived for that covered office.
D.C. Mun. Regs. r. 3-4210