Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming presidential debates

For months, voters, journalists and political observers wondered whether President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump would meet face to face this year for debates ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

On Wednesday, both campaigns finally committed to at least two debates, which will look different in several ways from what we're used to. Here's everything you need to know about who will participate, when to watch and how these debates came together.

When are Trump and Biden set to debate?

The campaigns agreed on two dates: June 27 and Sept. 10. The June debate will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, at 9 p.m. ET. Details about the time and place of the September debate have not yet been announced.

Who will moderate the debates?

CNN is set to host the first debate, with anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash serving as co-moderators.

ABC News will host the second debate in September, with anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis as co-moderators.

Where can I watch the debates?

Both networks plan to air the debate on linear TV, while ABC News announced that the September debate would also be available on its streaming network, ABC News Live, as well as Hulu. ABC also said it would allow other broadcast and streaming networks to simulcast its debate.

Who is leading the presidential polls ahead of the first debate?

Most recent national and battleground state polls indicate a tight race in head-to-head matchups between Biden and Trump, with the former president faring better in the surveys but the race still close.

A Fox News national poll out this week found that 49% of registered voters said they would vote for Trump, while 48% of those voters said they would vote for Biden.

What are the debate rules, restrictions and conditions?

Both CNN and ABC News have announced that candidates must meet certain requirements and polling thresholds to appear on the debate stage.

In addition to meeting constitutional requirements and registering as a candidate with the Federal Election Commission, both news organizations are requiring that candidates are on the ballot in enough states to reach at least 270 electoral votes, that candidates "accept the rules and format of the debate," and that candidates receive at least 15% in four national polls of registered or likely voters.

Will any other candidates, like Robert Kennedy Jr. or Cornel West, participate in the debates?

The above requirements imposed by the TV networks make it hard for Kennedy or West, both of whom are running as independents, to make it onto the debate stage. But Kennedy has announced his intention to try.

First, the polling threshold will likely exclude West and other third-party contenders other than Kennedy. While Kennedy has exceeded 15% in two qualifying polls already, no other contender has.

Meanwhile, Kennedy has been working for months to collect petition signatures in states around the country. States differ in how many signatures are needed before a candidate can be placed on the presidential ballot.

Kennedy is already on the ballot in states totaling 85 electoral votes, and between his campaign and the pro-Kennedy super PAC, they say they have the signatures for an additional 11 states that have another 129 electoral votes. But announcing having the signatures and getting those signatures verified and earning ballot placement are different things, and each state has its own deadlines, rules and procedures for getting on the ballot.

In a statement posted to X on Wednesday, formerly known as Twitter, Kennedy was confident that he would meet the debate requirements by the deadline.

Meanwhile, West has gotten on the ballot in at least six states so far.

How will the CNN and ABC News debates differ?

Aside from differing moderators and differing questions, CNN has announced that it will not allow an audience to be present at their June debate. In a news release Wednesday, the news organization said that they were barring an audience "to ensure candidates may maximize the time allotted in the debate."

ABC News has not announced whether it will allow an audience at the September debate.

Will there be a vice presidential debate?

The Trump campaign hasn't yet announced his running mate or accepted an invitation to a vice presidential debate.

On Thursday, the Biden campaign said that Vice President Kamala Harris accepted an invitation from CBS for a vice presidential debate over the summer. The campaign and CBS agreed that the debate could be held on July 23 or Aug. 13. The July date would come just one week after the Republican convention, which could be where Trump names his running mate.

"We look forward to the Trump campaign accepting one of these dates so that the full debate calendar for this campaign can be set," a Biden campaign official told NBC News.

What about the Commission on Presidential Debates?

For decades, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates partnered with TV networks and news organizations to hold series of presidential debates in the weeks and months leading up to each Election Day.

Late last year, the group announced three dates — one in September and two in October — for presidential debates. But the CNN and ABC News debates announced on Wednesday are not in partnership with the Commission on Presidential Debates.

The Trump campaign has previously criticized the CPD's debate timeline, arguing that with early voting, "millions of Americans" will have cast their votes before some of the debate dates set by the commission.

In a letter to the CPD Wednesday, ahead of the announcement of the ABC News and CNN debates, Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon also argued that the debates should happen earlier.

She proposed that there should be one debate in June, "after Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial is likely to be over and after President Biden returns from meeting with world leaders at the G7 Summit," and one in early September, "at the start of the fall campaign season, early enough to influence early voting, but not so late as to require the candidates to leave the campaign trail in the critical late September and October period."

On Wednesday, the commission stood by its original dates, saying in a statement, "We will continue to be ready to execute this plan.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com