Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas mentioned on Sunday that he had met the qualification standards for the primary Republican presidential debate this week, which might make him the eighth candidate to qualify.

Or probably the ninth. Perhaps the tenth? It relies upon whom you ask — and consider.

To take part in Wednesday’s debate in Milwaukee, candidates should meet a donor threshold (40,000 particular person contributors, together with 200 every from 20 states) and a polling threshold (no less than 1 p.c assist in three qualifying nationwide polls, or two qualifying nationwide polls plus qualifying polls from two early-voting states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina). They should additionally signal a pledge to assist the Republican nominee, whoever it’s.

Seven candidates have undoubtedly certified: Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, former Vice President Mike Pence, the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. An eighth, former President Donald J. Trump, might simply qualify if he wished to however has not signed the loyalty pledge, and says he plans to skip the debate and as an alternative publish an interview with the previous Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Mr. Hutchinson can in all probability be safely added to the certified class quickly. The Republican National Committee might want to confirm his donor numbers, however he has some wiggle room there — he advised CNN on Sunday that he had submitted proof of 42,000 contributors. A New York Times analysis reveals that he has met the polling threshold, and he reiterated in Sunday’s interview that he’ll signal the loyalty pledge.

An individual with data of the qualification course of advised The Times on Sunday that the R.N.C. was verifying Mr. Hutchinson’s donors, and that he can be despatched the pledge to signal if his numbers have been verified.

But there are two candidates — Mayor Francis X. Suarez of Miami and the businessman Perry Johnson — who say they’ve met the standards, however whose claims haven’t been corroborated by the R.N.C.

That affirmation is essential, not solely as a result of the R.N.C. should certify the donor numbers but in addition as a result of its polling standards embody some methodological stipulations which might be exhausting for third events to confirm. It has typically refused to verify which polls depend.

Mr. Johnson’s qualification is dependent upon whether or not some particular polls depend; the individual aware of the method mentioned the R.N.C. had not but verified his polling or donor numbers. Mr. Suarez’s continues to be extra questionable: It is unclear which polls even would possibly qualify him, and the individual mentioned he had not certified by the R.N.C.’s standards, although he has till Monday evening to take action.

It wasn’t like this 4 years in the past.

The Democratic National Committee established comparable standards for debate participation — a donor minimal and polling thresholds that elevated for every debate — however the polling requirement was less complicated.

The D.N.C. recognized pollsters it deemed dependable, and a date vary inside which qualifying polls for a given debate needed to be carried out. If a kind of pollsters launched a ballot from these dates, it counted.

The R.N.C., against this, has a listing of methodological standards that particular person polls should meet. A single pollster might launch two polls, solely one in all which counts. And whereas a few of the standards — like a minimal pattern measurement — are simple to evaluate, others are extremely technical.

The deadline to satisfy the necessities is Monday, 48 hours earlier than the talk is ready to start. Which candidates will really seem will probably be recognized Wednesday night.

Christine Zhang contributed reporting.